


empathy

by PurpleLittlePup



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: A bit of angst maybe, Android Gore (Detroit: Become Human), Background Reed900 - Freeform, Detective Work, F/M, Gavin Reed Redemption, Gavin Reed is Bad at Feelings, Post-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, a TON of fluff probably, best friend Gavin, murder investigation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25681711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleLittlePup/pseuds/PurpleLittlePup
Summary: You are a new detective at the DPD. You were assigned to work alongside Gavin Reed and you absolutely hate it. When you are assigned onto an android murder case with Gavin, Lieutenant Anderson, and his android partner Connor, you could never imagine catching feelings for the handsome detective.
Relationships: Connor (Detroit: Become Human)/Reader, Connor/Reader
Comments: 35
Kudos: 151





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, however, you would find yourself staring at him from across the bullpen when your mind starts to wander during paperwork. Objectively, Connor was a very good-looking person. He was always dressed very formally, his hair was always done in a perfect coiffed manner, and his face. His strong jawline, freckles, and eyes were just a few things you would find yourself staring at. When you first caught yourself doing this – staring at a stranger across the bullpen – you had been slightly embarrassed. You tried your best to never do that ever again, but you just couldn’t help yourself. He was easy on the eye. He was designed that way.

Gavin Reed was quite possibly your least favorite person in all of Detroit. The last three months working at the DPD have been something close to hell because of him. You were forced into being his partner on your first day and no matter how much you want to see the good in him, he makes it virtually impossible to. Sometimes, you think you see a sliver of good in him, but then his mouth opens to deliver some snarky comment, and any thought of goodness is all but gone. 

So far, you have worked on two cases with your partner. One of them involved an android who was assaulted behind a bar in the middle of the night. When working on this case, you found out that Gavin had a deeply rooted dislike for androids. It had been a year and a half since the androids of Detroit held their revolution. You were always an avid supporter of android rights since Markus first took to the TV screens of the entire country. You felt it only right that they get the rights they deserve. Seeing Gavin acting as if working on a case defending an android was almost repulsive to him helped you understand what kind of person he truly is. 

Your second case, however, really hit the nail in the coffin. A little girl’s parents had brought her into the precinct saying that she was being molested by one of her teachers. Since it dealt with nothing but humans, Gavin was putting his all into the investigation. However, when you were questioning Penny, the little girl, you deduced that it was actually her father that was molesting her. You couldn’t hold back your tears as you wrapped up your interrogation and Gavin has never let you live that down. 

“Crying over a case? I mean what kind of detective would let their emotions get in the way of their work?” Gavin’s words overheard from the break room still stung three months later. You were good at your job. You were a fantastic detective. You were fantastic because you allowed yourself to be driven emotionally. Because that is what detective work is. It involves people’s emotions and understanding them helps you to solve the case. 

But, of course, you never told Gavin any of that. You were still the new person and Gavin isn’t exactly the kind of person to let you talk to him about using emotions in your work. Even though you had been praised by the captain himself, in front of Gavin no less, about being emotionally driven enough to solve Penny’s case, Gavin still refuses to let your tears that day go. He brings it up any chance he gets. 

So, really, how can anyone blame you for not liking Gavin Reed at all? You’re pretty sure just about everyone in the precinct dislikes him but only tolerates him because, admittedly, he was a good detective. 

Right when you were ready to dub him the worst person in the world, a bag and cup are placed on your desk. You followed the hands that placed them up to their owner and saw Gavin, a slight frown on his face. You raised an eyebrow at him and the cup of coffee and baggie that, presumably, held some sort of sweet. He met your gaze as he sat down at his desk, the one right next to yours, and put his cup and sweet down in front of him before speaking. 

“I had some extra cash. I know you didn’t get to eat much this morning and you looked like you needed a pick-me-up,” His eyes shot away from yours and to his terminal as your eyebrows shot up in slight shock. You had mentioned to officer Tina that morning in the break room that you weren't able to have breakfast because you woke up late. “You like chocolate, right?” 

You opened the baggie and saw a chocolate croissant. You didn’t _not_ like chocolate. And the coffee did smell good. Did Gavin get you breakfast to be nice? Or was there some kind of ulterior motive? 

See, okay, the fact that you even had to think that made you rethink the whole him being nice thing. 

“You didn’t poison this did you?” You half-joked. He huffed at that, humorlessly. 

“You don’t have to have it if you don’t want it.” He looked up from his terminal and reached across your desks to grab the cup and baggie before you slapped his hands away. 

“No, no, I want it. I guess it’s just strange to have you doing something nice for me.” He scowled at that and grumbled under his breath as his hands once again reached out for the cup and sweet. 

“Sorry I bothered.” 

“No, wait! Gavin!” You held on to the bag and cup and he rose an eyebrow at you with a big frown. “It’s not like I don’t appreciate it, because I do. I was just surprised, okay?” You tried your best to give him a look that both said, ‘please don’t take away my coffee’ and ‘I really do sincerely appreciate this’ at the same time. 

Gavin just huffed again, but this time he turned back to his terminal and got to work on the report he was working on. Maybe he really did want to try to be nice. 

You took a sip of the coffee before returning to your terminal. 

You and Gavin worked in moderate silence for the rest of the morning. The only sound being the clack of your keyboards or the scratch of a pen. You had been content with spending the rest of the day on paperwork, but Fowler had other plans. 

“Reed, (L/N), Anderson, Connor. My office.” Your head shot up at your name and you exchanged a look with Gavin before standing up and following the Lieutenant and the android detective, Connor, into Fowler’s office. 

You wondered why exactly Fowler was pulling you into his office alongside Hank Anderson. You had looked up to the Lieutenant ever since he worked on that red ice case all those years ago. When you read about the youngest Lieutenant in DPD history, your respect for him grew exponentially. Over the years, you heard about his behavioral issues, especially lately from Gavin and a few select other DPD officers. 

In the last three months, you would see Hank come in after noon at least five times. Tina had mentioned that ever since the android detective known as Connor started working at the precinct, his tardiness and absences have gone down tremendously. Apparently, they live together. You don’t really know much about Connor except for the fact that he had a hand in the android revolution. You saw him on TV leading the biggest group of androids you had ever seen. You could say you also have a great amount of respect for Connor as well. 

Your only interactions with him so far have been small smiles exchanged in the break room or in the hallways of the precinct. One time, he helped you reach a mug from the back of the cabinet in the break room. You had thanked him before he gave a quick ‘you’re welcome’ and walked out. You have a total of four words exchanged between one another. 

Sometimes, however, you would find yourself staring at him from across the bullpen when your mind starts to wander during paperwork. Objectively, Connor was a very good-looking person. He was always dressed very formally, his hair was always done in a perfect coiffed manner, and his face. His strong jawline, freckles, and eyes were just a few things you would find yourself staring at. When you first caught yourself doing this – staring at a stranger across the bullpen – you had been slightly embarrassed. You tried your best to never do that ever again, but you just couldn’t help yourself. He was easy on the eye. He was designed that way. 

Really, all you knew about Connor was that he was an android detective, he had a hand in the revolution, and Gavin absolutely hated him. 

Once all four of you were in Fowler’s office, you and Hank took a seat while Gavin and Connor stood behind you. You glanced over at the Lieutenant and then at Connor before giving Fowler your full attention. He handed Hank a case folder before beginning. 

“I’ve got a case that I want you four to work on,” Fowler’s words make your eyebrows shoot up and you herd Gavin huff and saw Hank’s head shoot up from the folder in his lap. “It involves the murder of an android,” Fowler continued, “Her name is Willow and her girlfriend’s son witnessed it all. I wanted you four on this case because I’m still in the process of getting android hate crimes recognized as such.” 

Gavin scoffed and you sighed at his obvious dislike of where this was going. 

“I need you all to go down there and check out the scene and question Willow’s girlfriend and the boy,” Fowler said, ignoring Gavin. “I’ve gotten word that the boy is having a hard time speaking. That’s why, detective (L/N), I wanted you on this case. You’re good with kids and maybe you could get him to speak with you.” You held your head up and puffed your chest out with pride at that. It was always nice to get some recognition for your work. You were the right detective for the job. 

Once again, Gavin scoffed, and this time Fowler rose an eyebrow at him. 

“Something wrong, Reed?” Fowler challenged. Gavin must have shaken his head because the captain continued. “Hank, Connor, you two have been receiving most android related cases and since (L/N) and Reed here have previously worked on an android related case a few months back, I want you two to, for lack of a better word, train them.” 

This piqued your interest even more. Being trained by Lieutenant Anderson would be an honor. The Lieutenant nodded his head before glancing over at Connor. You looked over your shoulder to the android as the two exchanged glances before they both nodded at Fowler. 

“Sure, Jeff.” 

Fowler dismissed you all after sending Connor the details and you all made plans to leave to the scene in five minutes. As you packed up a few things at your desk, Gavin groaned and dramatically threw his head back. You rose an eyebrow and he just grabbed a jacket and started heading out. You let him go, knowing that he wouldn’t leave without you and grabbed your own jacket before starting on your way. 

Before you could start leaving, however, you caught Connor’s eye. You realized that you could get some information about the case from him since he was basically a walking, talking case file. 

You send a smile to him as you walked up to the android detective who was currently waiting for his partner to gather his things. You stuck a hand out for him to shake, which he did. 

“I don’t think we’ve ever formally met. I’m (Y/N).” You continue to smile up at him as he gives a firm handshake while his LED spun yellow before landing again on blue. 

“Detective (Y/N) (L/N). You just transferred to Detroit PD from Ann Arbor PD. It’s nice to finally meet you, detective. My name is Connor.” You chuckled a bit at his knowledge of you. You guess you weren’t surprised seeing as how he could probably look you up in half a second. 

“Yes, I know. I see you all over the news. Your work with Markus is so inspiring.” You had been following Markus and his council of android representatives for the last year and a half. Connor was a member of the council and they have all been working to get rights for androids. 

Connor gave somewhat of an embarrassed smile at what you said, and you worried that you may have said something wrong, but Connor merely chuckled and thanked you. 

“I was wondering if you could give me a rundown on the case so I can give the info to Gavin on our way to the scene.” You fiddled with the ends of your sleeves as Connor listened to your request. He nodded and relayed the information to you. 

“Willow is an android that was murdered last night at around 2:30 in the morning. Her girlfriend Emily Winthrop was not home at the time due to her being at work. She is a surgeon at Detroit Receiving Hospital. Emily’s son, however, was at home. His name is Lucas Winthrop and he is 9 years old. He has, so far, been unable to talk. He seems to be in shock. We have reason to believe that he knows who killed Willow.” 

As Connor finished up, you took a few notes on your tablet. You couldn’t help but worry about Lucas. He didn’t deserve to witness that. 

“Thank you, Connor,” You looked up at him with a small smile, hiding the pain you felt for Lucas. You loved being a detective, but sometimes you couldn’t help but hate it. 

“Detective (L/N),” You turned to Lieutenant Anderson as he approached you with an outstretched hand that you quickly took. “I’m Hank. Nice to meet you.” 

“It’s such an honor, Lieutenant. I’m looking forward to getting to work with you.” You responded as you shook his hand. You tried to shake it as firmly as Connor did yours, but you were only slightly successful. Hank gave a small and surprised laugh at your enthusiasm at working with him. He cleared his throat and looked between yourself and Connor before making his way to the doors. 

“Let’s get going then.” 

The scene was buzzing with officers collecting data and people behind the police line trying to find out what happened. You and Gavin had arrived right after Connor and Hank. You met with them right outside the house before walking in. You were immediately met with the living room which was in shambles. Pillows and picture frames were strewn around the floor and a broken vase was currently getting its picture taken. There were obvious signs of a struggle in this room, but still no sign of Willow. 

Gavin made a beeline for an officer he knew and started chatting with him. You sighed and followed Connor and Hank to the next room, which was the kitchen. That’s when you saw her. 

She was unceremoniously sprawled out on the floor of the kitchen and, if her thirium were still visible, you imagine that it would be all over the tiled floors. Her blonde hair was thrown out in a halo of tendrils around her head and she seemed to have some damage on her left temple and jaw. She had what seemed to be multiple deep stab wounds in her chest and her thirium pump seemed to be missing. 

Connor had already crouched down next to her to examine her and Hank mumbled something along the lines of “Jesus fucking...” before walking off to another area in the kitchen. 

You took a deep breath before taking out your tablet and crouching down beside Willow on her other side. Connor informed you that she had been stabbed 19 times and that she was missing her thirium pump. She seemed to have damage to several of her biocomponents such as her left optical unit and audio processor. The damage to her temple and jaw may have come from someone punching her or hitting her with a blunt object. 

“There doesn’t seem to be any object of that sort, however.” He says as he stands and scans his surroundings. He determinedly headed back towards the living room and scanned the room once again. You looked around for Gavin and saw that he finally started working on collecting evidence. You let your attention return to Connor as he walks through the living room before speaking once again. 

“It seems that the murderer came in through the front door. There is no sign of forced entry, so I suspect that Willow answered the door. She seems to have backed up and tripped over this armchair. Notice the marks on the carpet suggest the chair scraping as she tripped.” You crouched and saw exactly what he mentioned. “The murderer then tried to attack Willow and she fought back.” 

At this point, Hank joined us and listened in on Connor’s evaluation. 

“Once they made their way to the kitchen,” Connor continues as he walks into the kitchen, “The murderer managed to punch Willow in the temple and jaw. There is thirium here on the floor to suggest it.” He gestured to a seemingly clean floor. “Then, a knife was taken from this knife block.” Connor points out the missing knife, “Willow was stabbed 19 times and her murderer removed her thirium pump before leaving the way they came in.” 

As Connor finished his evaluation, Gavin joins you and looks over your shoulder at the notes you were taking while Connor spoke. You had to admit, Connor’s evaluation was incredibly impressive. It would have taken you maybe ten minutes to deduce exactly what happened. You would not have even noticed those marks from the armchair or the thirium on the floor since it’s long gone now. 

“And the only one that knows who dun it is some kid that won’t speak?” Gavin said as he crossed to crouch next to Willow to examine her. 

“His name is Lucas,” You said, frowning. Gavin just waved a hand and you rolled your eyes. You looked over at Chris, who was walking past and asked: “Do you know where Emily and Lucas are?” 

“In the dining room,” Chris said and pointed down the hall to an archway that presumably leads to the dining room. You thanked Chris and he simply nodded before walking off. You looked up at Connor. 

“Should we question them now?” You asked and he nodded before following you down the hall. 

As you entered the dining room, you silently scanned the two people sitting at the table. Emily was a woman in her thirties. She was still wearing her scrubs from work last night. Her son, Lucas was sat next to her. His face looked tear-stained and his eyes were red and puffy. Emily had an arm around his shoulders, and she seemed to be comforting him. Her head went up as you and Connor walked in. 

“Hello, Miss Winthrop. I’m detective (L/N), this is detective Connor. If it’s alright with you, we would like to ask you and Lucas here a few questions.” You offered as friendly and empathetic a smile you could. This woman just lost her girlfriend and her son had witnessed it. You couldn’t even imagine what she must be going through. 

Emily nodded and you and Connor took a seat across from Emily and Lucas. You looked over at Lucas, who was playing with the frayed ends of the table mat in front of him. 

“Lucas?” You offered and the boy kept his eyes down and his hands busy with the table mat. “Lucas I know that what you saw last night was scary and confusing,” You continued despite the lack of reaction. “I’m not going to force you to speak, but it would be such a big help if you were to answer a few questions for us.” You gave him a small smile even though his eyes were still trained on his hands. He stayed silent and you let out a small sigh before looking back up at Emily who was trying to coax Lucas to speak. 

“Miss Winthrop, it’s alright. For now, I think letting Lucas process would be best. Is it alright if I ask you a few questions while we wait?” She nodded and you got to work asking her about what time she came home and how she knew Lucas had witnessed everything. Eventually, Connor tuned in with a few questions of his own. You tried your best to be as gentle as you could with Emily. Connor seemed to have noticed because he followed your lead on that. 

Once you and Connor were finished asking Emily your questions, your gaze landed on Lucas once again. He had moved from messing with the table mat to fidgeting with his fingers. You felt a pang in your heart as you looked at Lucas. You had to go about this gently. Make sure he knew that it was his choice to answer questions but still have him understand that he would be a great help to the investigation. You took a deep breath before trying to speak to Lucas once again. 

“Lucas, I need you to understand that you absolutely do not have to speak if you don’t want to. I also need you to understand that if you do answer our questions, it would be such a great help to us... and to Willow.” His head perked up a bit at Willow’s name and he looked up at you for a moment before looking down at his hands again. 

“Last night, you were the only one to see who attacked Willow. If you tell us who it was, you would be able to help us catch them. That way, they could never hurt anyone like Willow ever again.” 

You waited a moment for Lucas to say something, but he stayed silent. Emily rubbed up and down his arm and you exchanged a look with Connor. You looked back to Lucas and dipped your head down to try to catch his eye again. 

“Can you tell us who hurt Willow, Lucas?” Your voice was as soft and kind as you could make it. You hated seeing Lucas like this. He was just a kid. He shouldn’t have to sit through this. He shouldn’t have to be questioned by the police like this. “Were you close to Willow?” You asked instead and at this, Lucas met your eye and gave you a nod and looked away again. 

Your eyes widened at the response and you exchanged another look with Connor whose eyebrows shot up when Lucas nodded. He silently told you to keep going, so you turned back to Lucas. 

“Have Willow and your mom been together for a while?” You looked over at Emily who shared a look with you that you couldn’t quite read. Lucas nodded once more, and you continued. “Were you woken up when Willow was attacked?” Lucas shook his head. “You were already awake?” He nods and you decided to just keep asking these yes or no questions. He seems to be responding now, but who knows if he’ll stop? 

“So, you were already awake when the person who hurt Willow came into the house.” Lucas nodded again and you continued. “Did you see who hurt her?” He nodded. “Did they see you?” He shook his head. You took a moment before continuing. “Do you know the person who hurt Willow?” 

Lucas looked up at you and something flashed in his eyes before they welled up with tears. He slowly nodded his head. Emily gasped next to him and Connor’s LED flashed yellow for a moment before going back to blue. You’re not sure if he just took a note or if he had some sort of emotional reaction. You pursed your lips as you slowly considered how to approach Lucas about giving you a name. 

“Okay, Lucas. You’re doing such a great job. I just need one more question. Is that okay?” You asked as you slowly reached across the table and took Lucas’ hand gingerly. He allowed it as he looked up at you, tears flowing freely. He nodded for you to continue. 

“Can you tell us the person’s name?” As you asked the question, Emily took a breath in and placed a hand on her heart. She seemed distressed and you wanted nothing more than to wrap her and Lucas up in a tight hug. They don’t deserve this. Willow didn’t deserve this either. You could only hope that Lucas would give you the name of the person who did this. 

You waited a few moments and Lucas’ eyes shifted from you to your hand on his to the table and back to you, tears still falling. Your heart was in pieces at this point and all you could do was squeeze Lucas’ little hand. That little ounce of comfort gave Lucas the courage to take a breath and open his mouth. 

“Daddy.” 

The room was silent. You were stunned. Emily’s hand flew from her chest to her mouth and the tears she was trying so hard to suppress started flowing. You tried your best to smile at Lucas to let him know that he did a great job. 

“Thank you so much, Lucas. This is going to help Willow. I promise it will.” 

You turn to Connor and nodded your head towards Emily. He seemed to understand that you wanted to question her without Lucas in the room. He offered to take Lucas to his room so he can show Connor his toys. You sent him a smile and Lucas waved goodbye to you. Once they were gone, you looked over to Emily and gave her a moment to collect herself. 

“Emily? Do you need anything? Water or coffee maybe?” She simply shook her head and tried to control her breathing. You allowed her more time until she gave you the okay. 

“I’m going to have to ask you who exactly Lucas’ father is.” You asked as gently as possible. Emily took another deep breath before answering. 

“He’s... his name is Gene. Gene Vanes. He and I... we used to date. We had Lucas and I had work and we never really got around to marriage. We ended up splitting about a year or so ago.” She took a few breaths before continuing again. “He was incredibly anti-android and I felt different. We fought a lot during the time that Markus and his people were starting the revolution. After androids started slowly moving into neighborhoods and getting jobs, Gene would come home every day and just shit on them. And I would tell him to shut his mouth... 

“So, I broke up with him. And we completely cut ties with each other. I met Willow about ten months ago and we started dating shortly after. She and Lucas absolutely loved each other. And I absolutely loved her... Gene found out through a mutual friend and he kept calling me. Calling me and Willow so many terrible things. I ended up blocking his number.” Emily trailed off and looked very far away for a moment. 

“He came over to hurt her. I’m the reason why she’s dead.” At this, you shook your head and slowly took her hands in yours. This seemed to catch Emily’s attention and she looked you in the eye. It seemed like she was snapped out of some sort of trance. Like she almost forgot you were the one she was speaking to. 

“Emily,” you began, “please do not say that. You didn’t tell Gene to kill her. He did that himself. I’m so sorry. You and Lucas and Willow, you did not deserve this.” You squeezed her hand and she seemed to appreciate the support. 

“Do you have an address where we could find Gene?” You ask and Emily shook her head. 

“I have no idea where he lives... I do know where he works though.” Emily gave you the address of an accounting company. You wrote the address down on your tablet and forwarded the information to Connor and Fowler. 

“Thank you so much, Emily. I know that all of this has been... a lot. I just... I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through.” She looks at you with fresh tears welling up and threatening to spill. You felt a tightness in your throat, and you continued. “I am so sorry about Willow. She did not deserve this.” You feel a tear fall and you were quick to wipe it away. 

Emily stood and circled the table to pull you into a hug. You gladly accepted it and both of you stood there for a good few minutes. You eventually pulled away and Emily took a deep breath with you. 

“Thank you, detective,” Emily spoke, almost in a whisper. You simply nodded, not trusting your voice at that moment. You turned to exit and saw Connor leaning against the wall across from the archway of the dining room. He simply smiles and nods towards the living room, presumably to tell you that you all should get going. 

You turn to Emily right when Lucas comes back into the room. He seems a little brighter and that lifts a bit of weight from your heart. He has a small smile on his face, and he hugs his mother’s side. She runs a hand through his hair. 

You bid them both goodbye, thanking them again and crouching down to Lucas’ height to give him a fist bump. 

“You did such a great job today, Lucas.” He gives you as big a smile as he could give and the knot in your throat tightened a bit at the sight. You gave one last goodbye to Emily and Lucas before following Connor out into the front of the house. The kitchen and living room are unchanged, but there seem to be far fewer officers milling around. Gavin and Hank were nowhere to be found and Connor informed you that they left while we were interrogating Emily and Lucas. 

You nodded, not sure if you could speak without your voice wavering. Connor leads you to a police cruiser and you get in. The ride is silent for a while until Connor turns to you with a slightly furrowed brow. 

“Detective,” He started, and you turned to him, “I would like to commend you for the way you handled questioning the witnesses.” You looked at him in surprise. You were not expecting that. 

“You seemed to show empathy more than anything throughout your entire interrogation. I have never seen somebody offer so much empathy to witnesses before. You managed to get Lucas to speak when no one else could. It’s admirable,” Connor looked at you with eyes full of sincerity. “At the end there, with Emily,” He continues, “You seemed to be in distress. Are you alright, detective?” 

You genuinely were not expecting Connor to say any of this. It was shocking and also very nice. You weren’t sure how to react. 

“I, uh, I’m okay, I think?” You answer and Connor didn’t seem to believe you. His LED swirled yellow. 

“That’s a lie,” He states, matter-of-factly. You chuckle a bit at his bluntness. 

“Don’t you know that no one answers honestly when someone asks if they’re okay?” You ask in a teasing tone. Connor simply furrows his brow. 

“Well, then I won’t ask you that. Instead, how about I ask... How are you?” You smile at his sincerity and consider what to say. 

“Well,” You began, “sometimes I love my job and then other times... I just wonder why I’m still doing this. Having to see people like Emily and Lucas in such pain... It’s something that I don’t ever want to go through. 

“The whole time we were questioning them, I kept thinking to myself that they did not deserve this. That Willow did not deserve this. That they shouldn’t have to suffer. They are good people who deserve anything but what happened to them. They deserve happiness. And now Lucas is going to be traumatized for life because he watched someone who was basically his stepmom get killed by his father. And I can’t even imagine what Emily must be going through. She shouldn’t have to go through this. Nobody should.” You stop yourself because you were starting to get worked up. Your face was hot, and your eyes were burning and suddenly you were embarrassed. 

You slowly looked over to Connor who was looking at you intently. His eyes scanned your face and you saw concern in those deep brown irises. You weren’t sure if you could see emotions in androids’ eyes until right at this moment. You had never really been this close to one for so long before and Connor’s eyes were just so full of emotion. 

“Sorry,” You huffed out a breath and looked away, out the window. You didn’t want to see the concern in his eyes anymore. It was embarrassing and you didn’t want to feel his gaze on you anymore, but he didn’t look away. 

“Detective,” Connor finally said. “That way of thinking is truly admirable.” 

You looked back at him and the smile on his face was so soft and kind and his eyes. His eyes were full of sincerity and concern and now admiration and you couldn’t believe that someone was complimenting your empathetic strategy. 

“Usually, when people find out how I go about questionings and interrogations, they disapprove,” You say, playing with the ends of your sleeves, “They think that emotions could cloud your judgment.” You trail off and look out the window at the passing buildings. 

“But not in your case,” Connor said, confident. “Using emotions, in your case, helps strengthen your ability to gain the witness’ trust. You proved that today with Lucas and Emily. I don’t think I would have been able to get Lucas speaking if you weren’t there. 

“Besides, Fowler put you on this case for that very reason. You’re good with people, especially children. He recognizes your talent as a detective.” You look over to Connor once again and he gives you another soft smile. “And I think the reason why I admire your empathetic strategy is because... well, emotions are still new to me. I haven’t even had them for two years yet. I’m still discovering new ones every day. So, I think the ability to use emotions in a positive way, especially detective work, is something to be celebrated.” 

You only stared at Connor as he finished what he had to say. He finally looks away from you and out the windshield as the automated cruiser makes its way to the precinct. You didn’t know what to say. At all. You looked out the window as the cruiser approached the parking lot of the DPD building. Before Connor could open the door, however, you touched his arm gingerly. 

He looked at you, LED spinning yellow for a moment before landing on blue once again. You give him a small smile. 

“Thank you, Connor.” 

He sends you a smile right back and you love how his eyes wrinkle at the corners and his nose scrunches up just a bit and his ears perk up and his eyes brighten up. 

“You’re very welcome, detective.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! This is my first fic on AO3 and I'm a little nervous and also very excited :) Please feel free to give me any feedback you want! Thank you for reading!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, Connor, Lieutenant,” You started, and Hank turned from the files in front of him to you with a raised eyebrow. “Gavin and I were talking about going out for a drink.” It wasn’t a question, but you sure made it sound like one. You made eye contact with Connor for a second, which was maybe not smart because you stumbled over your words again. “And, uh. I was wondering if you two wanted to, um, come along? You know, to, uh, celebrate a successful investigation.”

He makes you go stupid. Every time you see him, talk to him or even think about him, you go stupid. Ever since that conversation in the cruiser about Connor admiring your _empathetic ways,_ your brain just short circuits around him. There was just something about the way he looks at you that makes you want to sink into the floor below you. 

You still have the habit of looking at him from your desk whenever your mind starts to wander. But now, he catches your eye and your heart goes crazy and your face heats up and you look away and pretend like you don’t feel his gaze burning into you. He never mentions it – and thank goodness because you would just about die if he ever did – but there was always something in his eye whenever you would bump into one another in the break room or when you had to talk to him and Hank about the Winthrop investigation. 

A few days after you had questioned Emily and Lucas, Gene Vane was brought in. Fowler suggested you take over the interrogation and Connor, Hank, and even Gavin agreed. The encouraging smile you got from Connor gave you – a mini heart attack, but also! – a boost of much-needed confidence. 

Vane was defensive at first. As you walked into the interrogation room, he kept saying he did nothing wrong and that he wasn’t sure why he was here. You allowed him to get all of that out of his system before you sat down and put an evidence folder down on the table in front of you. You stayed silent as you turned a picture of a dead Willow to face Vane. He tried playing dumb, saying he didn’t know who she is, and you simply rose an eyebrow at him before speaking. 

“This is Willow. She was your ex, Emily Winthrop’s, girlfriend.” You took on a sort of blunt persona to try to get through the Vane. “A mutual friend of yours told you that Emily was with an android. You didn’t like that at all. You visited Emily’s house on Friday, May 18th in hopes of hurting Willow. You were successful,” You pulled another picture out of the folder in front of you. 

“This is a picture of a trash can outside your apartment complex. Willow’s missing thirium pump along with the knife you used to kill her were found in there two days ago, covered in your fingerprints,” He goes to say something, an angry look on his face. You stop him before he could even begin. “Your landlord permitted us to search around your apartment. Of course, we had a warrant. She was kind enough to let us dig around for a few minutes. It wasn’t hard, Vane.” 

You take a moment and look at him. He seemed to be sweating and on the verge of tears. You think changing gears would be best. Taking a gentler approach to get a confession. 

“Gene,” You start, your voice soft. He keeps his eyes down, looking at his cuffed wrists. “Something tells me that you didn’t try that hard to hide any evidence because you’re scared. Maybe you feel guilty?” You take a moment and wait for Gene to look back up at you before continuing. “I think what I’m about to tell you may be a little... difficult. Gene... Lucas saw everything.” 

At that, the tears that were threatening to spill fell down Gene’s cheeks. You pushed a tissue box that you brought into the room in advance and he took one, trying to turn his face away from your line of sight. You gave him a moment, knowing his world seems to be crashing down around him. You tried your best not to take any pity on him. He killed Willow. You didn’t have the pleasure of knowing her, but Emily and Lucas seem to have loved her enough for you to know that the man in front of you killed an innocent person. 

“Lucas was there that night and he was found an hour later by his mother. He was sitting next to Willow, waiting for his mother to come home from work,” Gene had crumbled in on himself at that point, head in his cuffed hands and shoulders shaking with every sob that he let out. “He couldn’t speak, Gene. He was in so much shock at what he had seen. He was confused and scared. He was so close to Willow. He loved her.” 

You stopped yourself as Gene started muttering something under his breath. He was repeating something over and over. You watched as his tear-stained face came up from his hands to look at you. It was hard looking into his eyes, but you knew that you were close to getting a confession. 

Gene took a breath and wiped at his face with the tissue in his hand. “Lucas saw me?” His voice was quiet, but you knew that everyone behind the one-way mirror all let out a collective breath, the same one you let out. This was it. 

“He saw me kill that android?” Gene had a far-away look in his eyes. His face was red, and tears were still coming down relentlessly. You simply nodded and softly confirmed, “Yes, Gene. He did.” 

Once the interrogation was over, Hank gave you a pat on the back and Gavin even muttered a “Good job,” before going back to his desk. 

Before you could follow your partner, however, you caught Connor’s eye. He sent you a smile and you just about melted. 

“Great work in there, detective. I knew it was a good call, sending you in there. You knew telling Vane about his son was the right strategy to use,” You and Connor walked down the hall towards the bullpen as he spoke. 

“I’m pretty sure any other person would have said what I did in there,” You countered, and Connor stopped in front of the break room. You paused next to him and rose an eyebrow at him. 

“Yes, but,” He seemed to analyze your face for a moment before continuing, “not with so much sensitivity.” 

You only gazed up at him, watching the admiration return to his eyes. It was just like that day in the cruiser. You stumble a little over your words as you try to come up with a good enough response to the android’s praise before, finally, you were able to form a complete sentence. 

“Uh, thank you, Connor, I, uh, I really,” You cleared your throat as your eyes shifted between Connor and your desk for a moment. “I really appreciate that.” 

Quickly, you bid him farewell – you literally said “Farewell,” and immediately felt stupid for it – and headed back to your desk. You sighed deeply, mulling over the conversation you just had with Connor. You’re not sure when exactly he started to have this much of an impact on you. Was it in the cruiser? Or maybe on the scene when you saw him work? Maybe it was some time over the last few days, working on the Winthrop case. You didn’t know, but what you did know is that your heart beats a little harder when you’re around him. 

_This is bad,_ you thought as you sat down and stared at the keyboard in front of you, _this is really bad._ Having a crush on a coworker, much less an android, was not something you would have ever imagined. And yet, here you are. Having a crush on your android coworker. 

As you started working at your desk, you couldn’t help but look at Connor across the bullpen. He was working at his terminal, presumably on his report for Vane’s investigation – which you _should_ be working on. His LED was spinning yellow as he worked. When it turned blue, his head turned slightly towards you and you panicked for a moment as you avoided making eye contact. 

You stared directly at your terminal screen for a good few minutes – pretending that you totally were _not_ creeping on your _very attractive_ coworker – before glancing back to Connor. He was back at work, suggested by his yellow LED. You sighed and looked down at the folders of paperwork in front of you. Might as well start on the report. 

When you were about halfway through your report of the investigation, Gavin clears his throat. 

You look up at him and he shifts his eyes between you and the keys he was fidgeting with. You noticed that he usually plays with his keys when he’s nervous, which was honestly pretty rare. It happened enough over the last few months, though, that you took note of it. He meets your eye again before speaking. 

“Hey, uh, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to get a drink tonight? To celebrate. It’s been a long week and I think we deserve a few beers.” 

Your eyebrows shot up at this. Never in the time you worked here has Gavin ever offered to get together outside of work, much less for drinks. You smiled a bit as you watched him fiddle with the keys in his hands. This must be difficult for him, you think. Probably the only person he’s nice to in the precinct is Tina. You think you overheard her talking to him about making more friends at work. Seeing as how you’re his partner, maybe he’s attempting at being friends with you? Maybe that’s what the coffee the other day and this, asking you out to drinks, was? Him wanting to be friends. 

“Yeah, okay,” You say smiling at him, and he looked up at you, “sounds fun.” Gavin smiled back at you and nodded, turning back to his terminal. “Oh,” you said, getting his attention again, “we should invite Connor and Hank! They played a part in the investigation too, they should come.” 

Gavin’s face went sour for a moment before settling on a slight frown. 

“Androids can’t even drink anything. Plus, I’m pretty sure Hank hates me.” Gavin says, hands returning to his keys. You tilted your head and gave him a small smile at this. 

“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you, Gavin.” Your voice was soft enough for him to look up at you from his keys. After a moment, he sighed and nodded. 

“Okay, sure. They can come.” You grinned at Gavin as you triumphantly pumped your fist in the air. You thanked him as you got up to walk over to Hank and Connor. 

As you approached their desks, Connor is quick to notice you. Your face burned as he smiled at you and you tried your best to do the same. Gosh, why are you like this? 

“Hey, Connor, Lieutenant,” You started, and Hank turned from the files in front of him to you with a raised eyebrow. “Gavin and I were talking about going out for a drink.” It wasn’t a question, but you sure made it sound like one. You made eye contact with Connor for a second, which was maybe _not smart_ because you stumbled over your words again. “And, uh. I was wondering if you two wanted to, um, come along? You know, to, uh, celebrate a successful investigation.” 

Hank’s eyebrow seemed to go up a little further and Connor’s easy smile grew a little wider. Gosh, he’s so handsome when he smiles. You bite your lip a bit as you watch Hank and Connor exchange a glance and share a silent conversation. It was pretty cool seeing their dynamic up close. They’ve known one another for almost two years now and have been living with each other for just about as long. You’ve heard people compare the two to a father and son and you smile a bit watching them, and you couldn’t help but agree. Connor turns to you and nods. 

“We would love to, detective.” His words make your small smile grow into a grin and you see Hank shake his head a bit, a smile on his face. 

“I’m not sure Gavin’s version of a bar is the same as my version, but as long as they have good whiskey, I’m in.” Connor’s LED went yellow for a moment and he turned to Hank. 

“What would the difference between your version and his be?” 

“His bars probably have dance floors.” 

You giggle a bit at that because, yes, that does make sense. The thought of Hank sitting in a night club is incredibly amusing and you half wished that Gavin would take you all to one just to see that. You caught Connor’s gaze and he still looked slightly confused, but his face returned to a smile. 

“Great,” You say with a grin aimed at the two, “I’ll send you the address when I know where we’re going,” You tell Connor and he nods. You managed to say a _normal_ goodbye to Connor and Hank before returning to your desk and informing Gavin that they will be joining you. He simply hummed in acknowledgment and didn’t look up from his screen. 

Turns out Hank was right in saying that Gavin’s version of a bar involved a dance floor. It wasn’t exactly a night club, per se, but it was still loud and full of intoxicated dancing people. As you walked in, Gavin waved you down from the bar. You weaved your way through a sea of people and sat on the stool adjacent to his. You couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed to find that Connor had yet to arrive. Gavin and you made some light conversation as you ordered and waited for your drinks. You looked around at the other patrons of the bar. 

You enjoyed people-watching, especially at places such as this one. There were people that didn’t seem to know up from down, people who were throwing flirty glances at one another from across the bar, people who were, presumably, the designated driver who were watching with exasperated amusement as their friends make fools of themselves. Eventually, Gavin waves at someone that had walked into the doors behind you. 

Your heart rate irrationally picked up slightly as you realized it must be Connor and Hank. You turned to look over your shoulder and immediately saw those soft chocolate eyes from across the room. He seemed to be analyzing the room until he saw you and smiled. For the umpteenth time that day, your heart went crazy. You wanted Connor to smile at you like that every day. 

Connor and Hank sit down on the stools next to you. You smile at them both and your heart beats even faster as Connor greets you. You did a mini double-take at Connor’s outfit. He looked good. He was wearing jeans, black boots, and a collared blue shirt. The color matched his LED, you noticed. The top two buttons had been undone and you feel your face heat up. It was a little strange seeing Connor in something so casual. You’re so used to his ties and dress shoes and black pants. You greet Hank and Connor as Hank orders his drink. Gavin gives them a wave before picking up where your conversation left off. 

It was actually really nice spending time with the three men. The more time spent – and drinks drunk – you became more comfortable around Connor. At some point, three or four beers in, Gavin left you three to go talk to some girl down the bar. Hank was content with just sitting with his whiskey, leaving you and Connor to talk. 

You and Connor had a pretty pleasant conversation about the progress that the android council was making. He was pretty impressed with your knowledge of the council’s history the last year and a half. Connor told you a bit about the different council members and you were pleasantly surprised that Markus paints as a hobby. Connor mentioned that Markus had given him something he had painted for his birthday, which is hung up in the living room. 

“Wait a sec, when’s your birthday?” You asked, taking a sip of your drink. 

“August 15th,” Connor responded, LED going yellow for a moment before he spoke again. “Detective, you really should drink some water now. Your alcohol levels are getting a little too high for my comfort.” 

You laughed a bit at that, and oh my goodness Connor is so cute. You waved down the bartender and asked them for a glass of water, making Connor smile. Your belly squirmed a bit in the best way possible because you knew that you made him smile. You’re glad your tipsy self isn’t as stupid around Connor as your sober self. 

A moment of comfortable silence passes for a moment as you drink a bit of water. You turn to Connor just to watch him look around the bar. He seemed relaxed and the small smile on his face made your heart flutter slightly every time you saw it and twice as much when it’s pointed at you. You are never going to get over his smile, are you? 

Gavin returned from his failed escapade of trying to flirt with a girl and you and Hank teased him a bit, making him go a little red. The four of you moved over to a little table away from the bar after ordering a few shots and a plate of fries on Connor’s orders – “No drinking on an empty stomach.” – and settled down on stools, content with just chatting with one another. 

Gavin at one point got really excited about one of his favorite songs coming on and begged you to go dance with him. “ _Please,_ (Y/N)! It’s such a good dance song!” Honestly, if you were sober, you would have outright refused. However, you were many drinks in and ready to dance your heart out. 

You were so happy to see this side of Gavin. He wasn’t being an asshole. In fact, he hasn’t said anything even a little bit insensitive all night. Maybe you could end up being friends with him after all. 

The song fades out and you and Gavin are out of breath from jumping up and down in a crowd of sweaty people. You go to walk back to the table, but Gavin grabs you by the wrist and pulls you back to dance to the next song. You glance over at Connor and Hank and find Connor looking at the two of you, his LED spinning yellow. You didn’t get a chance to make eye contact though. He seemed to be staring at something in between you and Gavin. 

You just shrug it off and decide to dance a bit more with Gavin. You felt lighter than you have in a while. A nice night out with new friends in a new city was exciting. You couldn’t wait to grow closer to them all. You and Gavin jump around a little more and when the song fades out, you make your way to the bar with him to ask for a couple of glasses of water. 

You and Gavin stand by the bar and wait for your waters, chatting about little things. Your table was in your line of sight and you watched as Hank made Connor laugh at a, probably horrible, joke. You felt yourself smile softly at the sound. 

“You know,” Gavin starts, hands going to his pocket where he holds his keys, “I was kind of hoping that tonight would be just...” 

Gavin’s voice along with every other sound in the bar seemed to fade out as you singled in on the sound of Connor’s laughter. It was deep and genuine and so beautiful. You couldn’t see Connor’s face, but you could just imagine the way his smile split across his face and you wish you could see him smile all the time. 

“(Y/N)?” Gavin made you snap out of your stupor and you looked up at him. His eyebrows were furrowed together, and his eyes were narrowed. It seems like he might have been trying to speak to you. 

“Oh, shoot, sorry Gavin. It’s just so loud in here,” You laugh a little and glance over at Connor again. Gavin looks over his shoulder at the table and his face sours. “Were you trying to tell me something?” You ask, tilting your head. 

“Whatever,” Gavin says, handing you your glass of water. “Doesn’t matter.” He walks back over to the table with his glass and you stand for a moment wondering why his mood soured just then. After a beat, you follow after him. 

As the night went on, you stopped drinking alcohol and instead stuck to water. You did not want to deal with a headache tomorrow morning. Gavin, however, was drinking like there was _no_ tomorrow. Connor tried to advise him several times to drink some water, but Gavin would just tell him to “Fuck off, tin can.” 

The conversation between the four of you drifted to the Winthrop case. Hank was doing nothing but praising your work on the case. It felt kind of amazing to hear _Lieutenant Anderson_ tell you what a great job you did on a case you worked on together. You felt on top of the world at that moment. Connor chimed in every now and again to add his own praise. 

“And, Lieutenant,” Connor was saying, “the way she handled Lucas’ questioning was fantastic. She managed to get him to trust her and speak to her.” You were starting to get a bit light-headed at all the praise you were receiving. “Captain Fowler was smart to put her on the case,” Connor continues, “He did say she was good with kids.” 

Gavin scoffs into his cup. “Yeah, he only said that because of that girl from a few months ago, remember?” Suddenly, the lightness you were feeling went away completely. Your eyes snapped over to Gavin and your brows furrowed. “When (Y/N) cried during the interrogation? Connor, did she cry _again_ during the kid’s questioning?” 

His words were sending ice down your spine and you can’t _believe_ that you thought he was trying to be your _friend._ “Wow, Gavin,” You said in a quiet voice, “Real nice.” 

Your voice was even and almost in a whisper, but you knew that the men at the table heard you. You debated leaving to go to the restroom or to get some air outside, but before you could decide, Connor spoke up. 

“Detective (L/N) is a fantastic detective. She works hard and she loves her job. She was able to get Lucas to speak, to get Penny to tell the truth, to get Vane to confess because she is good at her job. She uses an empathetic approach and it _works._ She had _one_ slip up _three_ months ago, Reed. Get over it.” 

There was venom in Connor’s calm voice towards the end of his mini-lecture and you felt your eyes widen as he defended you. There was a tense silence that passed over your table as you and Hank stare at Connor with shock evident on your faces. Gavin, however, had a murderous look in his eyes. With every second that passed by, his anger seemed to grow. Connor looked cool and collected as he stared Gavin down. You decided it’s probably best to step in before things get ugly. 

“Uh, thank you, Connor,” You start, sending him a small smile. He looks to you for a moment and smiles as well before looking back to Gavin looking slightly... smug. “Gavin,” You continue turning to him. He lets his glare at Connor fall as he looked to you. “I really don’t appreciate you bringing Penny up every chance you get.” His face seems to fall slightly before it went blank. “It’s not cool. And I really do want us to be friends, but I just don’t know if that can happen if you’re always trying your best to be an... asshole.” 

You watch Gavin as he stares down at his nearly empty cup. Another silence passes between you four before Gavin stands. “I’ll get going then,” He says as he grabs his jacket from the back of his chair. You try to object, but he wouldn’t listen. “See you all at work.” 

With that, he abandons his drink and pushes through the doors leading to the parking lot. You sigh as you look at the doors as if you could see him walking off, hopefully, to get in a taxi. Hank and Connor were silent as you slowly moved your gaze from the doors down to your empty water glass. 

“Shit.” 

Shortly after Gavin left, you and Connor and Hank decided to call it a night. Connor kindly offered to wait with you for your taxi as Hank waits in the car. He hasn’t mentioned anything about Gavin since he left. You and Connor stand in a comfortable silence as you waited. He’s probably not going to bring up Gavin out of curtesy for you, you knew that. But you kind of really wanted to talk about it with someone. 

“I was really hoping that Gavin and I could be friends, you know?” You say, crossing your arms. “I knew that he was trying to make some kind of effort the last few days. Getting me coffee, inviting me out for drinks, not being an ass. But, of course, he ruins it. I just don’t know why he insists on making my life hell!” 

Your little outburst at the end surprised you. You didn’t know you were _this_ upset about this. You saw the light from Connor’s LED illuminating your surroundings turn yellow and then blue. The light shifted as he moved his head to look at you. 

“Sorry,” you said, embarrassed, “I guess I’m still a little tipsy.” 

“It’s alright,” Connor says. You turn your head to look up at him. He knew that wasn’t true. He gazed at you softly and your heart melted just a bit. “Detective,” He starts, but you cut him off. 

“You can call me (Y/N), Connor. We’re not at work. Besides, we’re friends now, aren’t we?” You smile as you watch his LED spin yellow and then blue. 

“(Y/N),” He says instead, and you almost immediately regret asking him to call you by your name because _Jesus_ did your name sound good coming out of his mouth. “I’m sure that Gavin still wants to be close to you.” You raise an eyebrow at him. 

“This is coming from the guy that told Gavin to fuck off without actually saying fuck off,” You tease, and Connor chuckles a little and the sound comes from his chest and throat and you love it so much. 

“I was only defending you, detec-” He pauses, “(Y/N),” He corrects, “And, besides, he had to hear that if he wanted any chance of being friends with you.” 

“So, you think we’re actually going to become friends?” You question as you see a taxi pull into the parking lot and your phone buzzed with a notification saying your taxi has arrived. 

“Yes, I do.” He sounded confident and you couldn’t help but smile up at him. 

“I really hope you’re right, Connor.” 

Connor opens the taxi door for you and you giggle a little, blaming it on the alcohol you consumed hours ago. You thank him as you get in. He closes the door and you lower the window. 

“Thanks for coming out with us, Connor. It was fun getting to know you a little better.” You tilted your head and smile up at him. He smiles right back as he bends down to speak with you. 

“Of course, (Y/N). I had a good time. And I’m sure Hank did too.” He glances at Hank’s car which was blasting some kind of heavy metal song. You chuckle a bit before smiling up at Connor again. He looked so gorgeous in the soft raspberry-colored lights shining from the bar behind them and the warm yellow lights from the lamp posts in the parking lot. You couldn’t help but wonder what he would look like with the sun shining on his skin in the late evening. Your mind wandered to watching a sunset and staying up to watch the stars and then watching the sunrise with Connor and, oh my goodness, you need to stop. 

“Goodnight, Connor,” You said in a soft voice, looking over his handsome features. You couldn’t help it, you wanted to memorize every inch of his face. Every eyelash and every freckle. 

“Goodnight, (Y/N),” He says before standing up straight and waiting for your taxi to drive away. You input your address and smile at Connor before rolling your window up and feeling your taxi start to drive away. As Connor grew small in the rearview mirror, you saw him watch the taxi for a moment before walking over to Hank’s car. 

Even if tonight was a total disaster, at least you got to spend more time with Connor. Maybe you will listen to him and try to continue being friends with Gavin. If Connor was so confident that it will go well, you might as well try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that left a kudos on the last chapter! I really appreciate the support :D Please feel free to leave a comment if you want to share your thoughts on this one!  
> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You spot Gavin a little ways away, a cigarette in his hand. You hesitate a bit as you consider walking up to him and trying to talk to him. He catches your eye, and something flashes over his face. Before you could deduce what that something was, his face solidified into a cold blank one. He looks away, exhaling a cloud of smoke and turning away from you.

Usually, you don’t work on Saturdays. Usually, you’re allowed to sleep in. Today, however, the day after your night out, you were called into work. There was a hostage situation at some big company. Several people were being held on the top floor by a man threatening that he has a bomb set to explode. 

You didn’t really know the details, but from what you read as you skimmed the file emailed to your phone this morning on your way to the scene, the man with a bomb is Phil Hyde, son of the CEO of the company. Apparently, Hyde’s younger brother, David, was promised the company over Hyde. The building was evacuated that morning when Hyde arrived on the top floor with a gun. Two security officers were injured, and one was in critical condition. 

Officer Miller filled you in when you got to the scene that Hyde has the bomb set to go off in about half an hour and that about six or seven hostages were being held in a meeting room, two of them being Hyde’s father and brother. Hyde says he will only keep the bomb from going off if his father promises the company to him instead of his brother. 

You thanked Chris before analyzing the scene around you and see that police and bomb squad personnel were milling around the parking lot of the building. You see Captain Fowler with a communication device, and you heard what you assumed to be Hyde’s voice giving Fowler demands. The Captain had an annoyed look on his face, and you couldn’t blame him. All of this over some family drama? You just could not understand. 

You spot Gavin a little ways away, a cigarette in his hand. You hesitate a bit as you consider walking up to him and trying to talk to him. He catches your eye, and something flashes over his face. Before you could deduce what that something was, his face solidified into a cold blank one. He looks away, exhaling a cloud of smoke and turning away from you. 

You sighed, knowing that getting him to talk to you was not going to be easy. Especially at that moment, considering you were on the scene of a hostage situation and not at your desks in the precinct. You watched Gavin for a moment, still not sure what to do when you heard a familiar voice. 

“Captain, let me speak to him,” Connor’s unmistakable voice speaks. You look towards where you last saw Fowler and see Connor talking to him, gesturing to the communication device. “I was programmed to negotiate with people like Hyde. I have a 97.3% chance of being able to get through to him and allow me to enter the building.” 

At that, you walk up to Fowler and Connor. “Wait, what?” 

Your voice brings Connor’s attention to you and he simply smiles and greets you. “Good morning, Detective.” He turns back to the Captain. “If I go up to the top floor and speak to Hyde, the bomb squad can make their way to the bomb and defuse it. I have already located the bomb. I can interface with the android on the bomb squad and give her the location. She can tell me when they are successful. I can get Hyde to come downstairs and let those people go. I have a plan.” 

Fowler simply stares at Connor before finally sighing and nodding, handing the communication device to Connor. Before he could press the button to speak, however, you reach out and place a hand on Connor’s wrist. 

“Wait, Connor, you’re serious about going up there? What if you get hurt?” Your voice was urgent, and he notices your concern. His voice was gentle as he spoke. 

“Then I get hurt, Detective.” 

You stare incredulously at him, hand tightening around his wrist. He gives you the most reassuring look he could possibly conjure, tilting his head down slightly. 

“I will be fine, (Y/N). Please do not worry about me. Worry more about staying safe. Please.” 

You simply look up at him for a moment before you let go of him and nod. Connor, satisfied, holds the communication device up to his mouth and speaks into it. 

“Phil Hyde, my name is Connor. I’m here to help you. If you allow me to go to you, I’m sure we can reach an agreement. I can make sure you get what you need, as long as you let those people up there go.” He releases the talk button and the other end is silent for a moment. Right when Connor was about to speak again, Hyde’s voice speaks up. 

“Will I be able to get everything I need? A car, immunity, everything?” Connor looked over at Fowler with a raised brow before pressing the talk button once more. 

“I’m sure we can work something out, Phil. Let me go up there and I will help you get whatever we can give you.” He was bluffing, you knew he was. But his voice sounded convincing enough that Hyde just might bite. Sure enough, Hyde replied confirming that Connor can go up if he goes alone. 

“I’ll be there in less than five minutes.” Connor hands Fowler back the communication device. The android on the bomb squad interfaces with Connor to get the bomb’s location and right when Connor is about to make his way to the front doors, you stop him once more. 

“Hold on. How are we supposed to know that you’re okay?” Connor turns to you and his LED spins yellow a moment before going back to blue. 

“Hand me your tablet.” The request is strange enough to make you hesitate a moment, but you comply. The synthetic skin on his hand strips away as he touches your tablet’s screen. His eyes close and his LED spins yellow for a few seconds. He opens his eyes and hands the tablet back to you with a smile, LED going blue once more. “Now you can see everything I see.” 

Sure enough, when you looked down at the tablet, you saw yourself through Connor’s eyes. You chuckle a little and look up at him with a smile. 

“Thank you,” You say, appreciation very evident in your voice. You heard yourself echo through the speakers on your tablet, which was a little strange. He nods, sending you one more smile before turning once more and making his way into the building. 

Hank and Fowler join you as you watch Connor through your tablet. He was just stepping out of the elevator on the top floor. The bomb squad has confirmed that they have found the bomb and are about to start defusing it. You watch as Connor opens a door and walks into the meeting room that Hyde was holding the hostages. 

Hyde stands at the other side of the room, gun raised and pointing at Connor. You hold your breath as you see Connor bring his hands up over his head. His eyes glance over the room and you, along with Connor, see seven people on their knees with terrified looks in their eyes. One woman was crying, and another person had their hands on their head. Connor’s gaze went back to Hyde. 

“Phil, I am not armed. There is no need to point a gun at me. I’m here to help you.” Connor’s voice was even and calm, reassuring. Hyde lowered his gun just a fraction, still pointing at Connor. 

“Is he actually armed?” You ask no one in particular, eyes glued to the tablet’s screen. 

“I believe so,” Fowler responds. You nod and watch as Connor slowly approaches Hyde with one hand out in front of him, the other still up. 

“If you’re here to negotiate, then negotiate. What can you give me?” Hyde sounded scared. He knew that the bomb was going to go off in less than twenty minutes. He knew that if he didn’t get out of there now, it would all be over. You hoped to whatever was out there that Hyde valued his life enough to know it wasn’t worth killing his father and brother and the rest of those people along with himself. 

“We’ll be able to give you anything you need,” Connor says before gesturing to the hostages, “As long as you let these people go.” Hyde seems to consider this for a moment. 

“No!” He says, gun swerving to the group of people. There were frightened shouts from the hostages. Connor took a step forward and Hyde brought the gun back to point at him. “My dad needs to pay for what he did to me. My whole life, I’ve been preparing to take over the company! But, no! He gives it to David,” The gun was then aimed at a man in a navy-blue suit. He looked an awful lot like Hyde. You assumed it was his brother. 

“Phil, please listen to me.” Connor took another step forward as Hyde aimed his gun back to Connor. “I can only help you get what you were saying earlier – a car, immunity – _if_ you let these people go.” Hyde bit his lip hard in frustration. 

“Look, I’m sorry,” Connor continues, a gentleness in his voice. “I’m sorry your father didn’t assign you the next CEO. I’m sorry that you spent all this time striving to take that title and, in the end, it was given to your brother.” Hyde was staring hard at the ground, his gun falling lower with every word Connor says. 

“I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you must have felt when you heard the news.” Connor was taking small and slow steps toward Hyde. “It must have been awful.” You couldn’t help but note that Connor was taking an empathetic approach. Maybe he learned how to use empathy from you. You smiled down at the tablet as you felt pride swell through your chest. 

“Can you imagine,” Hyde said, gun now pointing fully to the ground, voice sounding strained. “Having something you worked night and day for just... taken away from you?” His face was downcast, and you watched anxiously as Connor makes his way to stand close enough to Hyde to see the tears rolling down his face. 

“I can. Again, I am so sorry that you had to deal with that.” Connor was close enough to touch him, but he stops as Hyde looks up at him. Tears were pooled together at the bottom of his chin and he looked absolutely hopeless. “Phil, I need you to let these people go so I can help you. I _want_ to help you.” 

At Connor’s words, the voice of someone on the bomb squad over someone’s radio confirms that the bomb had been defused and that the squad was going back outside with it. Connor must have received a message from the android on the team at this point, you think as you purse your lips in anticipation. Hyde was considering his options. 

“Okay,” He finally said, looking up at Connor. Connor seems to nod and watches as Hyde turns to the hostages. “Go ahead and go.” 

His voice sounded defeated, but you knew that he thought he was making the right choice. The hostages all but run to the doors. Connor keeps his eyes on Hyde as the hostages leave the room. 

“Send in back up,” Fowler says to Officer Miller. Chris nods and speaks into his radio, ordering a squad of officers to make their way up to the meeting room. You look back down to the tablet after momentarily being distracted by Fowler’s order. 

Once the room was empty except for Hyde and Connor, Hyde speaks up again. 

“I need a car a-and I need you to promise me that what I did today won’t be held against me.” Connor nods, watching Hyde. “Okay,” Connor says. “I promise.” 

“Oh,” Hyde says, getting a small device from his pocket. “The bomb-” As Hyde looks down at the device, his brow furrows and his lip curls up in anger. He must have realized that the bomb had been defused. 

“Why is the timer stopped? What did you do?!” Hyde brings his gun back up to point at Connor. Connor brings his hands back up. _“What did you do?!”_ Hyde repeats, voice angry and demanding. 

“I didn’t do anything, Phil. As I said, I’m here to help you.” Connor remained calm and collected. 

“It was all a lie, wasn’t it? You weren’t trying to help me; you were trying to help the others! You’re going to arrest me, aren’t you?! You promised me immunity!” Hyde was becoming hysterical at this point. Right then, the doors behind Connor burst open, and Connor jumped into action. He drew his gun as Chris and the rest of the officers encircle Hyde. 

“Detroit Police!” Chris’s voice yelled out as the officers pointed their guns at Hyde. “Put the gun down!” Hyde, fear in his eyes, pointed his gun at the group of officers advancing on him. 

All hell broke loose when Hyde fired his gun right at Connor. Chris and the others jumped into action, tackling Hyde to the ground and managing to remove his gun from his grasp. Your view of the arrest was obstructed when Connor turned his gaze down to look at his arm. There was a bullet hole leaking thirium on his right bicep. 

You gasped as you saw him apply pressure to the wound and let out a hiss. _Is he in pain? Can androids even feel pain?_ Connor’s gaze went back to look at the others as Chris managed to cuff Hyde. 

When everyone was finally outside and Hyde was being put in the back of Chris’ cruiser, you searched the sea of officers for Connor. You had been so scared ever since that gun went off. The tablet had been disconnected from Connor’s vision and you had thought the worst. What if the bullet hit something important? Is Connor okay? 

Brown eyes found yours over the crowd and the relief that ran through you was slightly overwhelming. You ran over to Connor, eyes searching him to make sure he wasn’t hurt anywhere other than his arm. He seemed fine, aside from the thirium leaking from his bullet wound. 

“Connor!” You said as you reached him. You couldn’t stop yourself from throwing your arms around him in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” You stand there with him for a moment, your heart clenching slightly at the thought of him being hurt, but mostly feeling relief. From the corner of your eye, you see his LED turn yellow and you felt him grow stiff. You quickly pulled away, eyes wide and face hot. “Sorry!” You said as you looked up at him. He looked slightly confused and you immediately regretted hugging him. 

“It’s okay, Detective.” He says, confusion turning into a smile. You couldn’t help but noting the blue hue on his cheeks. “I was not expecting you to greet me with an embrace is all.” Your face was scorching hot and you just knew your face was red in embarrassment. Your gaze shot down to the bullet wound. 

“Your arm,” You say, reaching out and gingerly placing your hand next to the wound. “We need to get you back to the precinct to see a technician.” About a year ago, the DPD had hired several technicians, most of whom used to work for Cyberlife, to tend to the wounds of the androids that worked as police officers – or, in Connor’s case, detectives. You know that the technicians at your precinct knew Connor well. You wish they didn’t because that means that he had had to visit them many times in the past. 

“Ah, it’s alright, kid,” Hank says, walking up to the two of you. “I can take him to the android docs myself. You, go home.” Your gaze shot between Hank and Connor. You weren’t sure if leaving Connor was something you could do at that moment. Connor seemed to sense this, because he grabbed your forearm gingerly, sending a jolt of what felt like electricity up your arm. 

“I’ll be alright, (Y/N),” Connor reassures you, his voice soft and sincere. “I promise.” You hesitate a moment, looking up at him and then to the wound in his arm. “I’ll text you when my arm is all better. To let you know that I’m okay.” 

You look back up at him and your heartbeat picks up a bit as you stare into his eyes. They were soft and reassuring and you don’t want to look away. 

“Okay,” You nod. Connor smiles and lets go of your arm. The spot where he was touching you feels cold as he pulls away and you almost regret agreeing to let Hank take Connor. “I’ll see you two soon then,” You say, looking between Hank and Connor. You all exchange your goodbyes before they walk off towards Hank’s car. 

You sighed and turned to leave yourself when you catch Gavin’s eye. He seems to have been watching your exchange with Connor. You blink as he looks away and starts to walk off. 

“Gavin!” You say as you jog to catch up with him. “Wait up!” 

He does _not_ wait up. Instead, he seems to pick up his pace. You stop trying to catch up to him as he all but runs to his car. Okay, so he's just going to keep avoiding you, huh? You let out a deep sigh as you watch Gavin start his car and drive off. 

He’ll have to talk to you eventually. It'd probably be best to give him some space right now. You make your way to your car and try to reassure yourself that everything was going to be okay. 

Later in the day, you received the text from Connor that you had been anticipating since you left the hostage scene that morning. 

Connor: _I’m okay, Detective. My arm is all better._

(Y/N): _Oh good! That’s a relief._

You bit your lip as you stared down at your phone, considering whether or not you should try to make conversation with him. You wanted to call him and talk about what happened with Gavin today because you don’t really have anyone else to talk about it with. Well, aside from your cat, but he can’t exactly have a conversation with you. You huffed, annoyed with yourself. _Just ask him if you can call him. No big deal,_ you say to yourself before typing out the message. 

(Y/N): _Can I call you right now? If you’re not too busy, of course._

You didn’t get a response. Instead, your phone buzzed, and your screen showed that Connor was calling you. You smiled down at the screen for a moment before picking up the call. 

“Hello, Detective.” His voice greets you from the other end. I was a little strange hearing Connor’s voice in your ear over the phone. But it was a good strange. 

“Hello, Connor.” You smile and fiddle with the end of your pant leg. You were currently sat in your living room in sweatpants and a sweater. You had been watching a movie when you received Connor’s text. 

“Did you want to talk about something?” Connor asks, voice sounding like he was almost teasing you. Your eyes widen slightly as you realize that you had just sat there in silence for a good few seconds. 

“Uh, yes, sorry,” You chuckle a bit and you hear Connor let out a quiet huff of laughter. Well, now you know that even when you can’t see Connor, he still has the ability to absolutely fluster you. “I wanted to talk to you about Gavin.” You furrow your brow, continuing to mess with your pant leg. “I just... I tried to talk to him today, but he kept ignoring me?” You felt a little stupid now, talking to Connor about something that had happened while he was negotiating with Hyde. Well, technically not _during_ the negotiation, but still. 

“I don’t know, sorry, I just, I need to talk about it because I’m worried that he’ll never want to talk to me again and I don’t-” You shut your eyes as you stopped yourself and cringed a little. Connor shouldn’t have to worry about this. “Sorry.” You shake your head a bit. “I’ll just let you go, it’s fine-” 

“No, don’t hang up.” Connor’s voice interrupts you. “We can talk about it if you want. Maybe it will make you feel better. Studies show that talking about a problem with someone may help you release pent up emotions and it may also lead to a solution to said problem.” You smiled a bit at that, imagining his LED going yellow as he looked up that fact in his head. A beat of silence passed by and your hand returns to fiddle with a loose string at the end of your pant leg. “Okay.” You say in a quiet voice. 

“So, he ignored you?” Connor prompts and you talk to Connor about Gavin avoiding your eye all day and practically running away when you tried to talk to him. You just could not understand why he was being like this. 

“Well,” Connor says when you finish your mini-rant, “There has to be a reason why he’s been acting like this. It may seem to you that him avoiding you is due to what he said to you last night and what you said to him. Maybe even something to do with what I said. But maybe there is something else going on,” Connor pauses for a moment, “I think you should give him time. He might not want to talk now, but I’m sure he will later. Let him process and he’ll come to you in his own time.” 

You let out a breath and nod even though Connor can’t see you. “Okay,” You say, mulling over Connor’s words. He had a point. Giving Gavin time was something that you just had to do. He won’t want to talk to you if you force it upon him. “Okay, yeah. Thank you, Connor.” You smile as you speak, petting your cat, Reggie, who jumped up on your couch to sit on your lap as you were speaking to Connor. 

“You’re welcome, (Y/N).” You can hear the smile on his face when he speaks. If you close your eyes, you could probably see it too. “Are you okay?” His question startles you a bit. You were not expecting him to ask you that. 

“Um,” You consider the question for a moment. “I think so,” You spoke, honestly, “At least I am now that I spoke to you,” You added, startling yourself. You didn’t mean to say that last bit out loud. But Connor lets out a quiet chuckle on the other end and you felt your face heat up. 

“Well, I’m glad, then.” 

“Hey, Connor?” You ask, suddenly remembering that you wanted to ask him something. “When you were up there today, talking to Hyde... Why did you decide to take an empathetic approach?” The other line was quiet for a moment before Connor responded. 

“Well, technically, it was a _sympathetic_ approach. I can never truly be empathetic towards Hyde due to the fact that I have never been in his situation before. Plus, I don’t have the ability to put myself in other’s shoes as you do, Detective.” You could imagine the small smile on his face as he said that last bit. “You have a gift, (Y/N). You’re able to imagine yourself in situations you have never faced. No matter how hard I tried to imagine what Hyde was going through... I just couldn’t.” 

“Well,” You start, “You did a fantastic job, regardless. You were sympathetic towards Hyde. You were able to get him to let the hostages go using the emotions involved in his situation. I’m impressed.” You smile and hope that Connor knows that you are. 

“Thank you, detective.” He sounded a little flustered. You wish you could see his face. He might even have a hint of blue on his cheeks like he did earlier. The thought made your smile grow even wider. 

After your conversation with Connor, you spent the rest of your evening checking emails, ordering a pizza, and watching random movies on TV with Reggie. You mostly just had it on as background sound as you ate. You weren’t really invested. The buzzing of your phone got your attention and you saw a name that you weren’t expecting to pop up on your screen. 

Gavin was calling you. 

“Hello?” You said, voice an octave higher than it usually is. Why is he calling you? 

“Hi,” An unfamiliar voice answers. You furrow your brows in confusion. “Is this (Y/N)?” You confirm their question before they continue. “My name is Alex. I’m calling you because, well, you were the last number on Gavin’s phone and he isn’t exactly...” Their voice trails off as if they were searching for the right words. “He’s pretty drunk right now. I’m a bartender at Collin’s. The bar on Harper?” 

You sigh as your mind tries to process what exactly is happening. “Can you come and pick him up?” Alex’s voice comes through from the other line. You consider your options in this moment. You could say no and stick Gavin with Tina or someone else. Or... You could go over to Collin’s on Harper and pick him up. 

“Yeah, okay,” You sigh into your phone. “I’ll go pick him up.” You would probably be worried all night and all day tomorrow if you don’t. You won’t be able to see Gavin until Monday and you’re scared that if you hang up now and don’t pick him up, something bad might happen to him. Alex thanks you and says that they’ll try to get him to drink some water before they hang up. 

You hop into your car before putting in the address for Collin’s. As your self-driving vehicle makes its way down the streets of Detroit, your mind wanders. Why was Gavin drunk off his ass? Why did he need you to come and pick him up? Why were you the last number on his phone? When was the last time he called you? Last Thursday? Maybe. You were worried about him. But you were also worried that you might be over-stepping. What if he doesn’t want to see you? 

You briefly consider texting Connor about this but decided against it. Gavin probably doesn’t want anyone knowing about this. Maybe not even Tina. Your mind comes to a stop along with your car outside of the bar. As you get out to walk into the bar, you can hear loud music and people laughing. This bar wasn’t like the last one you went to the night before. It was more like the kind of bar Hank had described as _his_ kind of bar. The kind with no dance floor. 

You walked in and glanced around the room until your eyes landed on a hunched over Gavin. His face was in his arms, which were crossed in front of him on the bar. A bartender, presumably Alex, was trying to get him to drink some water. They were trying to convince Gavin that it was a glass of vodka, but you take it Gavin wasn’t buying it. When you met their eye, they seemed to sigh in relief. 

“You (Y/N)?” They ask as you made your way over to them. Gavin picked his head up from his arms at your name and looked over his shoulder at you. He looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed to have beer stains on his shirt and chin. He groans when he sees you. 

You nod at Alex and they thank you before walking away to attend to a different bar patron. You take a seat next to Gavin as his head went back to rest on his crossed arms. 

“Gavin?” You ask, already knowing that this might have been a mistake. He ignores you and keeps his head down. “Gavin, how much have you had to drink?” You allowed the concern you felt for him drip into your words. It was enough for Gavin’s head to come back up and look at you. 

“None of your business, (L/N).” His gruff voice responds. 

“Oh, so you’re talking to me now?” You sass, eyebrow shooting up. Gavin huffs but remains silent. “Gavin, I got a phone call from the bartender telling me that you were drunk off your ass and that you needed to go home. So that’s what I’m here to do. To take you home.” 

Your voice was blunt enough for him to look back over to you. His brows were stitched together, and his eyes were narrowed. “Why would you want to do that?” He sounded somewhat taken aback. It was your turn to furrow your brow. 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Your voice was laced in confusion. 

Gavin looked at you, the same something you saw this morning in his eyes. You still didn’t have enough time to figure out what it was because he replaced it with something more stoic. 

“Because I’m an asshole,” Gavin states plainly. You thought he was mocking what you said last night. That he was accusing you of calling him an asshole last night and he was mad about it. You feel yourself ruffle up, but he continues before you could say anything. “And I don’t deserve your kindness.” 

Your gaze on him softens and you watch as he lets out a sigh. “Besides, I have no idea where I left my keys.” You don’t know what causes you to, but you just start _laughing_ at that. It was just so _Gavin_ that you couldn’t help yourself. You miss him. You really do. And you genuinely thought that you can rekindle whatever friendship you had before last night.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” His voice lacked anger and sounded more amused. He looked up at you, eyes scrunched up, and smile lines appearing at the corners. He gave you a crooked smile before looking at the glass of water in front of him. He paused for a moment before taking a small sip. 

“I’m sorry about last night,” Gavin says, mostly to the glass of water than to you. It was quiet enough that you almost couldn’t hear him, but you did. “I was such an ass. I don’t know why I said all that.” He trails off as he brings the cup back up to his mouth. He takes a few big gulps before putting the cup down and looking back at you. “Look, I get it if you hate me and want to get a different partner or whatever. I’ll understand, I won’t be mad or anything-” 

“Gavin,” Your soft voice cuts him off and he looks at you with glassy eyes. You feel your heart clench a bit at the sadness in them. “I could never hate you. And I don’t want a different partner.” You reach out and place a hand on his arm. “ _You_ are my partner. And I wouldn’t change that for the world.” 

At your words, a few tears free themselves from Gavin’s eyes. He tries to wipe them away quickly so you couldn’t see, but more tears kept coming down. You rub up and down his arm as he tries to stop himself from crying. 

“You, uh,” Gavin’s voice cracks slightly, “You really mean that?” He looks so fragile. Your heart just about breaks and you hate that he’s crying right now. He doesn’t deserve to cry over this. 

“ _Of course_ I do, Gavin.” He looks back up at you, searching your face. Perhaps he was trying to check for any sign of a joke or a lie. But he only saw the genuine kind look you were giving him. 

Before you knew what was happening, Gavin was leaning in and closing his eyes. 

“Woah!” You said, throwing your hand up to push against his chest. He stumbled slightly, almost falling out of his stool. “Dude!” _Did that just happen?_

“Shit,” Gavin said, face red from either the alcohol in his system or embarrassment or both. “Sorry. I am... so drunk.” He let his face slam down onto the bar. He let out a small “ow” before bringing a hand up to his forehead. “Sorry,” he repeats. 

“It's okay, Gavin.” You say, gingerly placing a hand on his back and rubbing a small circle. 

“It’s not okay,” Gavin practically mumbles, “I almost _kissed_ you.” He was still looking away and you saw that his ears were red. 

“Gavin, really, it’s fine.” You tried to get him to look at you by moving your hand from his back to his arm. He finally made eye contact with you and you smiled at him. “How about you crash on my couch tonight? You can’t exactly go home without your keys.” He simply stares at you for a moment before glancing down at your hand on his arm. 

“Okay, yeah,” He says, nodding, “I can always ask my landlord for an extra key tomorrow.” 

Gavin isn’t exactly coordinated at the moment, so you had to help him walk to the car from the bar, and then, once you got home, to your couch. He plops himself down on the cushions and you chuckle a bit as he closes his eyes. You go to your closet and grab a pillow and blanket for him before walking back to the living room. You picked his head up gently so you could slide the pillow under it and then draped the blanket over his body. He had kicked his shoes off when he lied down, and they lay haphazardly on your floor. You pick them up and place them neatly by your coffee table. 

You then sit down on the coffee table, so you were facing him, grabbing the end of the blanket and bringing it up to his chin. His eyes were open slightly, watching you. You smiled down at him. 

“Why are you being so nice to me?” He asks, voice soft and almost a whisper. You brush a strand of hair from his forehead and he shut his eyes for a moment. 

“Because you’re my friend,” You say, tilting your head, “and I care about you.” There was a beat of silence that passed between the two of you. 

“I care about you too, (Y/N),” Gavin says, words slurring together. His eyes shut fully, and his mouth was slightly ajar. His breathing seemed to even out and you watched as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Gavin is my favorite can you tell? Thank you all so much for reading! All of the kudos and comments I've been getting have made me so happy! ☺ Feel free to leave any thoughts you have in the comments! ❤


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Good morning, detectives,” Fowler speaks as the two of you approach his desk, standing behind the chairs in front of it. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard the good news just yet.” He looks over at Officer Miller with a smile before continuing. “Chris here has been promoted to detective.”

The smell of coffee swirls around your apartment, the morning news on your TV, volume low in the background as you open your fridge to look for something to eat for breakfast. A low groan from the couch catches your attention and you turn around to see Gavin stirring awake with your cat, Reggie, sitting on top of his chest. He was inspecting Gavin, sniffing and pawing at his face. You couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the sight. 

“What the fuck?” Gavin mutters just loud enough for you to hear. You pour a cup of coffee for him, watching as Gavin gives Reggie a few pets before the cat jumped off the couch and patters off. You walk over to Gavin as he sits up and his eyes widen slightly when he sees you. 

“Good morning,” You say, holding the mug out for him. He seems to recall the events of last night, face scrunching up in a cringe. He grabs the mug and takes a sip of it, gripping his head with one hand. “How are you feeling?” You ask, taking a seat on your coffee table after shutting the TV off. 

“Fuckin’ peachy,” Gavin mutters, voice groggy with sleep. He rubs at his eye for a moment before looking over to you. “I am so sorry for last night, (Y/N). You seriously didn’t have to do all this for me,” He looks away, taking a sip of coffee. “I’m sorry,” He repeats, mumbling into the mug. 

“You don’t have to apologize, Gavin, really,” You say, voice soft. Gavin purses his lips together and his nose scrunches up slightly. “Oh god,” He mutters, “I tried to kiss you, didn’t I?” He didn’t look at you. Instead, he brings a hand up and covers his eyes, pressing his thumb and pointer finger into them. 

“Yeah,” You say through a laugh, “Yeah, you did,” Your voice was light-hearted, and you wanted to let him know that it was okay. That you didn’t care and that he shouldn’t feel bad about it. He groans and gulps down some more coffee, avoiding your eye. 

“Do you have any pain killers?” He asks, voice quiet and eyes looking anywhere but at you. You nod and stand up, heading towards the kitchen cabinet to grab some. Gavin followed after you, mug in hand, and you hand him some pills before filling up a glass of water. He accepts both before sitting on a barstool at your kitchen island. 

“I’m supposed to go out for groceries today, so I don’t have much in the fridge,” You say, still watching Gavin as he tiredly tries to keep his head up. “But I do have some left-over pizza. Pepperoni.” You tilt your head, the question of whether he wants any going unsaid, but implied. Gavin nods his head, downing the water. 

You grab the tupperware that housed the last four pizza slices and grabbed two disposable plates. “Big question, Gav,” You say after plating the slices, “Are you a weirdo that heats up left-over pizza, or are you normal?” Gavin finally looks at you for the first time since you two were in the living room, face scrunched up with a look of utter disgust. 

“You eat pizza _cold?_ ” You grin at the sound of disgust in his voice. 

You respond, mocking him, “You heat up your pizza?” The sound of Gavin’s laughter is enough to lift some of the worries that have been weighing down your heart in the last few days. You missed his laugh so much. Gavin insists on having his pizza put in the microwave and you complied, all the while saying how disgusting it was just to make him laugh one more time. 

It felt good to laugh with Gavin again. The last time you did was at the bar the other night. Before he said what he did and before he left. You falter a bit, remembering that you still have to talk about that night. You place the plates of pizza down on the island, taking the stool next to Gavin. 

The two of you ate in somewhat comfortable silence. It wasn’t exactly awkward, but it wasn’t pleasant either. “So, what’s your cat’s name?” Gavin asks, breaking the silence. You look over at him, brow raised slightly at the random question. You assume that this is his attempt of making conversation with you. 

“Reggie,” You answer apprehensively, “Well,” You continue after a moment, deciding that you should try to lighten the mood, “really it’s Sir Reginald Howard Whiskerton the Fourth, but Reggie for short.” 

Gavin let out a huff of laughter and gave you a small smile. You smiled right back, not sure how you should bring up the other night. You wanted to talk to him about it. You wanted an apology. You wanted to get it out of the way so you can be friends with him. _Really_ be friends with him. You bite your lip and look down at your plate, picking at a piece of pepperoni for a moment. 

“Look, (Y/N), I’m really sorry about what I said that night at the bar,” Gavin says, getting your attention, “I mean, not _last_ night, but,” He sighs, “You know what I mean. I just... I shouldn’t have said what I said. About Penny.” 

You watch Gavin as he speaks, noticing that he reached for the pocket that usually holds his keys and then remembering that he doesn’t have them. He bites his lip for a moment, avoiding your eye. He brings his face up to look at you and when you make eye contact, you make sure that you have an open expression on your face. You want him to know that you’re listening to him. 

“I know that that case was hard for you. I’m just,” He pauses, looking as if he was trying to form what he wanted to say in his head. “Whenever I meet someone new,” He sighs, looking away once again, “I tend to be a dick to them. Obviously.” He huffs. “I don’t know how to open up to people. I don’t know how to tell people how I feel. I don’t know how to say that I have _trust issues_ and that I’m _scared_ of letting anyone into my life. I don’t want anyone knowing that I care because that can give them a chance to hurt me. To use me.” 

Gavin’s voice cracks just a bit and he stops to take a breath. You watch patiently as he turns his face away and rubs a hand over the side of his face. Your heart aches and you want to reach out to him more than anything. Just so he knows that you’re here and that you care. 

“(Y/N), the reason I’m such an asshole is because I don’t want to get hurt.” He looks at you again, eyes tired and red. “And it’s scary because I started _caring_ about you at some point. I don’t know when it was. Maybe it was the day of Penny’s questioning. Maybe it was after that...” He trails off, looking over your shoulder, a far-away look in his eyes. “But at some point,” He continues, eyes coming back to your face, searching, “I started to care.” 

You felt your throat tighten and you bit your lip as you felt your eyes sting. He looked so broken. So tired and scared. “What you did for me last night,” Gavin says after a beat, “I would have never expected you to do that. Not after what I said.” His voice cracks as a tear falls. “And that night, I was so _angry_ about,” He stops and stares hard at the countertop for a moment. “Something so stupid that it’s almost upsetting how stupid it is.” 

He sits there, still glaring at the marble on your kitchen island. You reach out and gingerly place a hand over his. He startles slightly at the touch, glancing up at you. The two of you were silent as you simply looked at one another. 

“Gavin,” You start, not really knowing what to say. You tighten your grip on his hand as you watch his brow furrow and his face try not to shatter. 

“I’m so sorry,” Gavin whispers, “I don’t deserve your friendship, (Y/N). Or your kindness. I don’t deserve any of it,” His voice was so _quiet,_ and he looked so fragile and you just wanted to wrap him up in a big hug. 

“Don’t say that, Gavin,” You say, voice gentle. He shook his head slightly and you placed your other hand on his shoulder. “Gavin, please look at me.” 

He complies, face red and eyes puffy. “I forgive you,” You say firmly, leaning forward slightly and emphasizing the words so he hears them, really hears them. “Thank you for apologizing. Thank you for putting in the effort to do that. It’s a little thing, but it really goes a long way.” You pause and watch as he takes a deep breath while you speak. He looks away for a moment, lips pursed together. 

“And thank you for opening up to me,” You continue, “I don’t know who has hurt you in the past – and if you ever want to talk about that one day, I am more than happy to listen – but just know that I have no intention of doing anything to hurt you. At all. _Ever._ ” 

You watch him for a moment before standing up from your stool and wrapping your arms around him in a hug. Gavin lets out a quiet sob before returning the embrace. Your heart clenched slightly as you rub a hand up and down his back. He squeezes his arms around your abdomen tight and the two of you stay like that for a long time. You combed a hand through his hair and mumble quiet reassurances. You let him cry into your sweater until he’s calm enough to let you go. 

You sit back down as he wipes at his face, avoiding your eye once again. The two of you sit in silence for a moment before he speaks. 

“I was _not_ expecting to spill my guts to you first thing in the morning,” He mutters, chuckling slightly, “Or to ruin your sweater,” You smile at him as he gestures to the damp spot on your chest and then looks at you. 

“It’s okay, it’ll dry.” The two of you sit smiling at one another for a moment, the silence comfortable once again. “Friends?” You ask, holding your hand out for him to shake. 

Gavin’s small smile grows as he grabs your extended hand. 

“Friends.” 

Monday rolls around and you find yourself in front of the coffee maker in the break room of the precinct. You were exhausted, as you usually are on a Monday morning, shadows apparent under your drooping eyes. The coffee brewing in front of you was the only thing you were focused on. Nothing else mattered more in the world other than the cup of coffee you were about to have. 

You don’t know how or when, but you had become extremely dependent on coffee. With your job and the late hours and midnight investigations, you were bound to. Connor would probably comment on how unhealthy your coffee addiction was. You smile at nothing at the thought. You hadn’t seen Connor today yet. You decided against texting or calling Connor about your newfound friendship with Gavin. You wanted to tell him in person. 

“Detective,” Connor’s familiar voice calls out to you as he enters the break room. _Speak of the devil._ You look up at him and can’t help the smile that breaks out on your face. He smiles right back, making your heart pick up just slightly. “Good morning,” He greets as he leans slightly against the counter. He was back in his usual work outfit, a button-up, tie, and slacks. You missed the more casual look he dawned at the bar the other night, but he still looked good in the gray dress shirt and black tie he had on today. 

“Good morning, Connor,” You say as you pour coffee into your mug. You felt his eyes on you as you stir in coffee creamer. You looked back up at him as you bring your cup of coffee up to your lips. 

“How are you?” Connor asks, eyes searching your face for a moment. “I know that the last time we spoke, you were concerned about your relationship with Detective Reed.” You smile up at Connor and nod your head towards a table in the break room. He follows after you before you both sit down. 

“So, it turns out that Gavin isn’t actually a big asshole,” You grin at Connor as his eyes widen slightly. 

“You spoke with him?” He asks and you nod, taking another sip from your mug. 

“Yeah, we ended up talking for a while, actually. It’s not mine to tell, but he has his reasons for being a dick to people.” You shrug, knowing that Gavin wouldn’t want you telling his deepest darkest secrets and insecurities to Connor. “So, we talked about it. He apologized for everything and I forgave him. We worked it out.” You smile softly at your mug before looking up at Connor again. “We’re friends now,” Connor’s smile grew on his face at your words. Your heart fluttered as you watched his face light up. 

“That’s amazing, (Y/N). I’m really happy for you.” He sounded genuine. You and Connor sat there for a good few moments, watching each other with small smiles on your faces. 

“Thank you, Connor,” You finally said, “Thank you for listening to me when I needed someone to talk to.” Your heart flutters as you watch his smile grow slightly, eyes wrinkled at the corners. 

“Of course, (Y/N). Any time,” Before the two of you could stare at one another for a second time, someone walks into the break room, snapping your attention away from Connor. Gavin groans as he approaches the coffee maker, body slouched and hand rubbing at his eyes. He finds the coffee in the coffee maker fresh and he silently punches the air in victory as he grabs a mug. 

“Good morning, Detective Reed,” Connor greets, slightly startling Gavin. He didn’t seem to notice the two of you as he walked in. You chuckled slightly at the look on his face. His eyes were wide and he had a hand over his heart. His shocked expression shifted into a scowl as he sees Connor. 

“Jesus, fuck, tin can. You scared the crap outta me.” He sighs before turning around to pour himself a cup of coffee. “Morning, (L/N),” He greets over his shoulder before walking over to the table you and Connor were sat at. 

“Morning, Reed,” You smile at him as he takes a seat between you and Connor. You glance at the coffee in his mug and make a sound of mock disgust. “Ugh, black coffee? Really?” He raises an eyebrow at you, trying to hide an amused smile so he can give a faux scowl at you instead. 

“Yes, really. What the fuck does that mean, ‘really?’” He uses air quotes and you grin at him. 

“It means you don’t have to pretend to like black coffee to make a statement, Gav.” He tries and fails to hide his smile as a laugh creeps up on him. You felt so light and so happy to have Gavin as your friend. Gavin slowly takes a dramatic sip from his mug and you scrunch your nose up in disgust. 

“Ugh, first microwaved pizza and now this?” You try, and fail, to suppress a smile. “You are seriously gross, Reed.” 

“No,” Gavin says, “I’m just simply making a statement, (L/N).” You share a smile with Gavin as you drink from your own mug and look back over at Connor. He was watching the two of you the whole time you joked around, LED spinning yellow. His smile was gone and he seemed to be processing something. 

“Con?” You asked, smile slipping. “You okay?” His wide eyes met yours, LED going back to blue. 

“Oh,” He answers, “Yes, I’m fine.” He looks over at Gavin. “I see you and Detective (L/N) are back on good terms.” 

Gavin huffs slightly as he stares Connor down. “Yeah, we are. Great terms, even.” There was a slight edge to both Gavin and Connor’s voices. “What’s it to you, plastic?” 

“I was simply making an observation, Detective. No need to get defensive.” 

“Reed, (L/N)!” Fowler’s voice called from his office, “Get in here,” You exchanged a glance with Gavin before the two of you stood from the table. Connor followed the two of you out and offered to put your mugs on your desks for you. You smile in thanks as Gavin scowled slightly. The two of you enter Fowler’s office and you’re slightly surprised to see Officer Miller there. 

“Good morning, detectives,” Fowler speaks as the two of you approach his desk, standing behind the chairs in front of it. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard the good news just yet.” He looks over at Officer Miller with a smile before continuing. “Chris here has been promoted to detective.” 

At that, your eyebrows shot up and your lips split into a grin. Gavin seemed to have a similar reaction as he exclaimed a congratulations to Chris. You did the same and Detective Miller smiled sheepishly, thanking the two of you. 

“Detective Miller’s partner is not set to work at this precinct until next week. In the meantime, however, I am asking you two to work with him. I have a case for the three of you. Android involvement.” He hands a case file to you and you take it, curious eyes skimming through the information. A woman was killed last night. She had been beaten to death with some kind of blunt object. She was found dead in an alleyway, clothing torn and thirium still visible. “I think it will benefit Detective Miller to work with the two of you since you did a great job on the Winthrop case last week. Consider this your training, Detective Miller.” Chris nods and smiles enthusiastically at you and Gavin. 

Captain Fowler dismissed the three of you and you lead Detective Miller to your and Gavin’s desks. Your mugs were waiting on your desks and you smiled slightly as you picked yours up to drink from it. You caught Connor’s eye across the bullpen and smiled at him. He smiled right back, making your heart somehow speed up and melt at the same time. 

You managed to pull your eyes away from Connor to look down at the case file. Working with Chris is going to be fun. From the limited amount of times you’ve talked, you know that he’s a hard worker. From what you’ve heard from Gavin, he’s a “damn good cop.” You don’t often hear Gavin praise anyone, so you know that’s the truth. 

Gavin’s praise for Chris was confirmed over the week you spent with him working on this case. Even though you were supposed to be training Chris, you were the one learning from the new detective. He was quick on his feet and incredibly intuitive. He was the one to deduce the android was in an abusive relationship with a human. He was also the one to find out who that same person is and how to get him to confess. By Friday, you, Gavin, and Chris had closed the case and put the man that killed his android girlfriend behind bars. 

As you sat at your desk, typing up your report, Gavin turned to you. “Hey, (Y/N),” You looked over to him, pausing your typing. “Are you going to Chris’s promotion party tonight?” Chris had sent an email earlier in the week to the whole precinct about a party he was holding at this new Italian restaurant. You, along with everyone, were looking forward to the party all week. You smiled at Gavin before responding. 

“Of course. I’m excited to meet Cathy. She’s all Chris has been talking about this week,” Gavin chuckled slightly at the mention of Chris’s wife. He had mentioned at least ten times a day how Cathy was hard at work at planning his promotion party. It was honestly really heartwarming hearing him gush over how incredible his wife is. Even Gavin admitted that it was adorable. 

“How about we go together? Your apartment is on my way to the restaurant anyway,” Gavin’s hand fidgeted with his keys as he spoke, eyes fixating on his keyboard. 

“Yeah, okay, sure,” You respond, returning the smile Gavin gave you. He’s been showing his true colors to you all week. Offering to get coffee for you and covering for you when you accidentally slept in and was late to work one day. He’s even been trying his best to get you and Connor alone in the breakroom. Whenever the two of you were in there and Connor walked in, he would make some excuse to leave and winked at you as he walked off. 

You hadn’t even told him about the way you felt for Connor. Was it really that obvious? 

You made plans for Gavin to pick you up around 7:30 and when the end of the day finally arrived, and you grab your sweater and bag, preparing to go home. You catch Connor’s eye from across the bullpen and wait for him to catch up to you. The two of you smile at one another as you slowly made your way towards the exit. 

Over the last week, you and Connor seemed to grow closer. You got to know one another and shared stories with each other in the break room. There had even been moments where you thought he was _flirting_ with you. You honestly weren’t sure how you felt about having a crush on Connor. The thought of the complicated life that you would have if you dated an android was something you couldn’t ignore, no matter how much you tried. 

It was frustrating trying to figure out if Connor actually felt something for you. Something more than platonic. Something romantic. You know that androids are capable of love. You’ve seen enough examples of that in your line of work and on TV. Markus and the council had even been working on legalizing marriage between androids and humans for the last few months. You think that you’re just not sure if Connor would be interested in _you._ The uncertainty of it all was enough to keep you up at night thinking about it. 

But those moments between the two of you. The flirtation and the easy smiles and the _way he looks at you_ makes you think he might be. 

“(Y/N),” Connor’s soft voice pulls you out of your thoughts, “What’s on your mind?” He tilts his head slightly as he holds the doors leading to the parking lot open for you. You take a deep breath of the warm summer air as a gust of wind blows past you, clearing your mind and seeming to take all of your thoughts with it. 

“Not much,” You lie and pretend like you didn’t notice the way his LED spins yellow, noting that you were lying. He decides not to comment on it, thankfully. “You’re going to be at Chris’s party tonight, right?” Connor nods. 

“Yes, I am. Perhaps we can share a table?” He asks as the two of you reach your car. You smile up at him in response. 

“Yeah, I’d like that,” A moment passes before you remember, “Oh, is it okay if Gavin sits with us?” Connor’s LED spins yellow for a moment and he seems to actually contemplate this for a second. 

“That’s fine. As long as Detective Reed does not offend you like he did last week,” He smiles, tone light-hearted. You let out a huff of laughter as you unlock your car. 

“I promise he won’t, Con.” You glance over the parking lot for a moment and see Hank watching the two of you from his car. You smile and wave at him and Hank waves right back. Connor glances over his shoulder at Hank before looking back at you. 

“I shouldn’t leave Hank waiting,” Connor rubs at the back of his neck, “I’ll see you later tonight, then, (Y/N).” 

You nod. “See you tonight.” 

When you and Gavin arrive at the restaurant, you are led to a private party room by a hostess. Despite the fancy aesthetic of the restaurant, the party room was decorated in childish police-themed party decorations. You grinned at the cake that was decorated with a cartoon police officer with a cheesy smile and an even cheesier big hat. The cake plates and napkins matched the police-themed decorations and the tablecloth on the cake table pulled it all together. 

Chris walked up to you and Gavin, a woman – presumably Cathy – following after him, a smile on both of their faces. As Chris hugs both of you, you congratulate him and compliment him on the decorations. 

“Oh, this is all Cathy’s doing. Isn’t it adorable?” Cathy smiles wide at you as she shook your hand and then Gavin’s, thanking you for coming and for the compliment. The four of you talk briefly about Chris’s work on the investigation this week. He seemed sheepish but proud when you and Gavin praised him on his hard work and dedication. Chris and Cathy excused themselves when they spot someone they hadn’t greeted yet, leaving you and Gavin to look for somewhere to sit. 

“Oh, Connor offered for us to sit with him and Hank,” You tell Gavin, who smirked slightly. “What?” You ask, watching him roll his eyes playfully. 

“(Y/N), you do know that he has a thing for you, right?” Gavin’s words were so unexpected, so out of the blue that they shocked you for a moment. Your face was burning, and your eyes were wide, and you frantically looked around to see if anyone heard him. Gavin laughed at your reaction and you hit him on his forearm with the back of your hand. 

“Shut up!” Gavin just laughed harder and you slowly smiled up at him. 

“Sorry, I’m just trying to make sure you knew. Why do you think I’ve been deliberately trying to get you two alone all week?” He waggles his eyebrows at you and you cover your face with your hands as he continues laughing at your embarrassment. “Oh, I see them,” Gavin says as he takes your wrist and leads you through the tables to a booth where Hank and Connor were seated. 

Connor catches your eye and instantly smiles at you. Your face was still burning, but you smile back, nonetheless. Hank greets the two of you as you sit across from Connor and Gavin scoots in next to you. The four of you talk about the investigation you, Gavin, and Chris had worked on and you and Gavin gave endless praise to Chris. By the time a waitress takes your and Gavin’s orders, you had finished telling Hank and Connor about the interrogation held just that morning. 

Connor seemed to be completely invested in the story you were telling, and Hank chimed in every now and again. It felt great sitting with the three of them again like you had last week. It felt so much easier this time around, though. It wasn’t as loud or as dark. There wasn’t a sea of drunk people dancing in the middle of the room. You and Gavin were on good terms and he even seems to want to try to get you and Connor together. 

Before this week, you were under the impression that Gavin hated Connor. A small part of you even thought that maybe Gavin had a crush on you. Over the week, however, it seems like Gavin’s maybe-crush on you faded as he noticed the way you would look at Connor. He would tease you now and again about it and your relationship seemed to shift into more of a sibling bond. 

“Oh,” Connor says, his LED spinning yellow, “Excuse me, Hank. I need to meet someone outside.” You, along with Hank, raise an eyebrow at that. Meet someone? Meet who? Hank seems to realize something after a moment, and he stands up to let Connor out of the booth. “I’ll be right back,” Connor says before turning and walking out of the private room. 

You furrow your brow as Hank sits back down. He meets your eye and you silently raise a brow in question. Hank sighs into his cup as he takes a sip. 

“It’s nothing, kid. He’s just meeting a friend of his like he said.” You glance back over to the door before catching Gavin’s eye. 

“What, jealous?” Gavin’s teasing tone chimes as he smirks. Your face grows hot and you hit Gavin’s arm, once again telling him to shut up. He just laughs as you avoid Hank’s eye. Your attention is brought to Hank, though, when you hear him release a low chuckle. 

“What?” You ask, eyes wide and brows turned up, embarrassed. Hank just shakes his head and exchanges a look with Gavin. Before you could say anything else, your waitress brings your food and places the plates in front of you. Hank thanks her as she walks off and you’re briefly distracted from the teasing you were receiving as you looked down at your food. You didn’t realize you were this hungry until right now. 

The three of you ate in relative silence, Hank and Gavin making idle conversation as your mind wanders back to Connor as you ate. Your eyes shot over to the door as it swung open and two people walked into the private room. You felt your eyes widen as you look between the two people, not believing what you were seeing. 

Connor was chatting with his perfect copy. Gavin and Hank seemed to follow your eyes because all talk ceased at the table. 

“What the fuck?” Gavin’s voice trailed off as the three of you watch Connor talk to his twin. The LED you see on Not-Connor suggests that he was also an android. As you watched the two talk, you noticed slight differences between Connor and Not-Connor. Not-Connor seemed to hold himself in a way that suggested confidence and superiority. He spoke in a way that seemed charming. His smile didn’t cause the corners of his eyes to wrinkle, unlike Connor. He was so different, but so much like Connor, it was overwhelming. 

Connor started walking back over to your booth, Copy-Connor following suit. You tried to act like you weren’t staring at the pair by poking at your food with your fork, eyes glued to the plate. What the fuck indeed. 

“Hank, (Y/N), Detective Reed,” Connor said once he and Not-Connor reached the booth. “This is Nines. He is going to be working with us starting Monday. He is also going to be Chris’s partner.” Nines waved at the three of you, charming smile on his freckle-less face looking so different from the smile you love so much. 

“Hello, everyone,” He said, voice so, so eerily similar to Connor’s. “It’s nice to meet you all. Connor has told me quite a bit about each of you.” At that, your eyebrows shot up and you almost forgot to smile and greet Nines alongside Hank and Gavin. Well, Gavin didn’t smile. Instead, he scowled at the other android. Connor spoke to Nines about you? 

“So, what, there’s going to be two of you annoying the hell out of me now?” Gavin snarked, making Nines’s eyebrow arch up. 

“Well, I think it’s obvious which one of your friends will _annoy_ me the most, Connor,” Nines’s voice was cool and he stared daggers into Gavin. He turns to you, a smile on his face. “You must be (Y/N), then,” Nines says, LED spinning yellow for a moment before going to blue, a smirk on his face. “Connor was right. You are pretty.” 

Your face heated up at that, heart doing a backflip as you glance at Connor for a moment, seeing him give Nines a look, face turning a hue of blue. Nines ignores Connor as he greets Hank with a handshake. Gavin elbows you lightly and you look at him, eyes wide. He gives you a shit-eating grin that makes you want to hit him over the head. You settle for subtly hitting him harder than necessary on the arm. He laughs, trying to avoid your slaps. 

Nines bids you all farewell, saying he needs to introduce himself to his new partner. He walks off and Hank stands to let Connor into the booth. He avoids your gaze as he scoots into the booth and you chew at your lip as you spin your fork in your hand. Gavin breaks the somewhat dazed and awkward silence. 

“So, I already hate him,” His words make you laugh harder than you maybe should have. He grins at you and for what feels like the thousandth time that week, you thought about just how grateful you were to have Gavin as a friend. 

The rest of the night went by rather quickly. Once mostly everybody was finished eating dinner, cake was passed around and toasts were made in Chris’s honor. You had a great time with Hank, Gavin, and Connor. Awful jokes were cracked from Hank and Gavin, making you feel light and so, so happy. You and Connor shared some wonderful conversation, talking about the council and your childhood. How you ended up becoming a detective and transferring over to Detroit. 

By the time the party was dwindling down and people were slowly saying good night, Gavin had gone to sit with Tina and Chris. Nines had joined them and you saw him and Gavin share snarky remarks. Hank at one point said he needed to talk to Fowler about something. He was sat at a table with Fowler with drinks between the two of them. This left you and Connor alone at your booth. You wondered briefly when Hank and Gavin left if they were in on some kind of grand scheme to get you and Connor alone. 

The two of you had sat in comfortable silence, watching your coworkers chat and drink. You made casual conversation, continuing to talk about any future plans that the council was thinking of putting into action. It was really interesting hearing all of this from Connor’s point of view. He wasn’t as diplomatic as Markus was. He never did any of the speaking, but he was more than glad to be a part of the group of androids making a change in this country for android-kind. 

He was more than happy to share his experiences with you and you returned the favor by talking about that one time in college when you ended up accidentally leading a group of ducklings across campus. He seemed to really enjoy that story and you watched, heart full of fondness as his face lit up as you told it. 

“Oh,” You say when you finish the duck story, “How do you know Nines?” You tilt your head, taking a sip from your drink. Connor smiles, eyes sweeping the room until they land on Nines. You follow his eyes and see Nines looking at Gavin, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face. 

“Well,” Connor starts, “He was originally supposed to replace me,” Your brows shot up at that. “He is an RK900. More advanced than me. If I failed in my mission, he would have replaced me. However, the revolution was successful. I was no longer under Cyberlife’s control. When I learned about Nines, I asked Markus if he could wake him up. He had never been activated, and I knew that he would want to hunt down all deviants,” Connor pauses, glancing over at Nines again. 

“So, we woke him up. He was deviant the second he opened his eyes. I offered to help him understand exactly what deviancy was and why he didn’t have to follow his programming. We became something like... brothers.” Connor tilted his head, a small smile on his face. “About a month after he woke up, he got a job in the DPD at a different precinct. He was his own person.” You watched Connor as his smile grew into a bigger, proud one. He met your eye and you matched his smile. 

“That’s great, Con,” You say, making his smile grow just a bit. “I’m excited to get to know him.” 

“I’m sure you’ll like him,” Connor says, fiddling with his coin. The two of you sit in a brief silence before he spoke again. “Why do you call me that sometimes, (Y/N)? Con?” His brow was furrowed, and his head was tilted. 

“It’s a nickname,” You shrug, “One syllable instead of two. If you don’t want me to call you that, that’s fine.” He shakes his head even before you finished your sentence. 

“No, no, it’s fine. I like it.” He smiles and your face heats up slightly as you smile back. 

“Can I ask you something, Con?” You question, tilting your head. Connor nods. “Nines mentioned earlier that you had told him that I was pretty,” You fail off as you watch his face go blue, heart going wild. “Did you? Say that I was pretty?” 

Connor seemed flustered as his LED spin yellow for a moment, avoiding your eyes. He stumbled over his words for a few seconds, something you've never heard him do before. 

“Yes,” Connor finally answers, “I did.” 

When Chris announces that he and Cathy were going to head home, all of the stragglers left at the party slowly trickled out of the restaurant. It was around 10 and you were getting pretty sleepy. You yawned as you walked out into the parking lot, Gavin, Hank, Connor, and Nines alongside you. Nines bid everyone good night before he got into a taxi waiting out front for him. Hank says good night to you as he heads to his car. Connor lingers slightly as Gavin’s phone chimes with a notification from the taxi app. A car rolls up a second later and Gavin goes to open the door. 

You glance at Connor and he tilts his head slightly. You look over at Gavin who already has a knowing look on his face, a smirk accompanying it. 

“Uh, Gavin, you go ahead. I’m not really in a hurry,” You say, making Gavin’s smirk grow. 

“Yeah, okay, sure. Good night, (Y/N), tin can.” He gives you two a mock salute as he climbs into the taxi and it drives off. 

“Would you like me to call a taxi for you?” Connor asks and you nod, smiling up at him as his LED spins yellow as he orders it. “(Y/N),” He said once his LED spun back to blue. “Why did you not take that taxi with Gavin?” He looks down at you with curiosity. You bit your lip as you considered what you should say. 

“Like I said, I’m not in a hurry. And...” You trial off, looking down at your shoes, face heating up. “I wanted to spend some more time with you.” You see your surroundings glow yellow as Connor’s LED spins from yellow to blue once again. 

“Oh,” Connor replied simply. You chanced a glance at him and see his cheeks tinged blue and a sheepish smile on his face. You felt your heart speed up at the sight. “May I ask a personal question, (Y/N)?” He asks, catching your eye, cheeks still blue. 

“Of course,” You nod. Connor furrows his brow and seems to contemplate on what exactly he wanted to say. 

“Well, I wanted to ask,” He pauses and you watch as his LED spins yellow for a moment. “I was wondering if you noticed the way Gavin acts towards you,” You furrow your brow at that and his cheeks seem to tinge a deeper shade of blue as he avoids your eyes. “I think he may think of you romantically.” His voice was so soft, and you watched as he plays with his coin, biting his lip in thought, LED yellow. 

You felt your heart just melt at the way he nervously fiddles with the quarter. You wondered why he was asking you this but decided it wasn’t important at the moment. 

“Well, if he does feel that way,” You start, voice gentle, “I don’t think I would feel the same. Gavin is a good friend. I’m so glad that he is, too. I don’t think I could see us as anything more than that.” You watched as Connor’s LED went back to blue and his hands stopped playing with his coin. He glances down at you and you smile up at him. 

Connor seemed to be... pleased. He looked almost relieved at your words. He smiles back down at you and the two of you stay like that for a moment before Connor’s LED spun yellow and he looked up at the taxi pulling up in front of the two of you. 

“Well,” Connor starts, LED going back to blue as he looks down at you once more. “I’m glad to hear that, Detective.” Your heart was practically doing backflips in your chest as you watched him smile at you, skin wrinkling at the corners of his eyes. 

“You know, Connor, we’ve been having a lot of conversations in parking lots. Did you notice that?” He laughs as he opens the taxi door open for you. You don’t climb in just yet, not wanting to go. 

“I didn’t,” He answers, small smile matching yours. The two of you stand there for a moment longer, just smiling at one another. The honking of Hank’s car made the two of you jump and look over Connor’s shoulder at the lieutenant. He gestures for you two to wrap it up and you smile sheepishly at Hank, face burning. Connor shook his head, a smile accompanying the blush dusting his cheeks as he looked back to you. 

You and Connor smile at one another for a moment longer. You didn’t want to say goodbye. 

“Have a good night, (Y/N),” Connor says, tilting his head slightly. His eyes were so pretty in this the dim light of the parking lot. You wanted to run a hand over his jawline and run your thumb along his cheekbone. You wanted nothing more at that moment and it physically hurt that you couldn’t. 

“You too, Connor,” You linger for a moment longer than necessary before you climb into the taxi and input your address. Before you select ‘enter’ however, you glance at Connor through the cracked window. You rolled the window down a little more so he could see you smile at him. He leaned down so he was at eye level with you. 

“Good night,” You said, voice almost in a whisper. Connor searched your face for a moment and you did the same, noticing a few freckles you missed the first time you were looking at Connor like this, last week. You wanted nothing more than to have enough time to count his freckles. To be able to trace all of them over and over again. 

“Good night,” He responds after a moment, lingering on your face for a moment. Your eyes wander down to his lips and you can’t help but wonder how it would feel like to kiss him. Would his lips be soft? Would they be warm? You snap yourself out of your thoughts, afraid that you might _actually_ kiss Connor if you let yourself continue this train of thought. 

You tear your eyes away from his lips up to his eyes. His cheeks were still dusted in a light blue and his eyes were trained on you. His LED spun yellow for a moment before going back to blue as he backed up, the hand he had on the taxi’s door moving down to his side. You share a smile with him before you finally tapped ‘enter’ on the taxi’s panel. 

You glanced out of the window as you rolled it back up and saw Connor wave as you started rolling away. You waved back, smile growing as you noticed just how he was looking at you. It made your head whirl and your heart pump. Had he also wanted to kiss you back there? Should you have kissed him? How would he have responded? 

You put your hands over your face, feeling just how hot it was. Your thoughts were interrupted as your phone buzzes in your pocket. You take it out and read the message you received. 

Gavin: _so did you kiss him or did you chicken out??_

You huffed at the message, small smile on your face as you opened your phone to reply. Instead of saying anything, you simply sent Gavin a chicken emoji. 

Gavin: _boooooooo!!!_

You laughed at the message and respond. 

(Y/N): _Yeah, I know_ 😔 _BUT I almost did!_

Gavin: _doesn’t count_

Gavin sends a cat emoji after that last message and you furrowed your brow at it. 

(Y/N): _Why the cat emoji?_

Gavin: _im calling you a pussy_

You snorted at that, laughing lightly as you watch the lights of the city pass you by through the taxi window. You sent Gavin a middle finger emoji, which he responded to with three more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote like 75% of this chapter lmaooo Be happy I did because otherwise it would have SUCKED. Nines is here! We are 100% going to see Gavin and Nines falling in love bc Reed900 lives rent free in my brain so of course it's gonna be in my fic. Also! If you haven't seen Detroit: Evolution on Youtube yet, please do! It's a beautiful movie that is basically a love letter to the Reed900 ship. I highly recommend. There were a few references to D:E in this chapter! Let me know if you spotted any! :D Thank you for reading and feel free to leave any thoughts you have in the comments ❤
> 
> D:E - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apUn-YMMdZ8


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over the last month, you and Connor have grown a lot closer. At the moment, you two are still friends – much to the frustration of Gavin and Hank who have had to work with the two of you for the last two weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I've been super busy with moving into my dorm! This is an extra-long one, as a treat. Hope y'all enjoy :)

A few weeks after Detective Miller's promotion party, a string of android disappearances leads to you and Gavin being partnered yet again with Connor and Hank. Three different androids have gone missing within the last two weeks. They had all been similar models. Housekeeping androids. So far, no connections between the androids have come to light. 

Tonight, on a warm summer’s evening, you found yourself in Lieutenant Hank Anderson's house. 

Hank had invited you and Gavin back to his and Connor’s house to go over any possible leads. The living room was silent except for the rustle of paper and the tapping of tablets. You were sat on one side of the couch with Gavin in the middle and Connor on the other side. Hank was sat in an armchair, one hand holding his head and the other reading through files. The four of you have been going at this for hours. 

You glance up from your tablet and look around at the other three. Hank and Gavin had matching scowls and Connor had a neutral expression on his face, but his LED was spinning yellow. You sigh and bring your legs up on the couch, propping them up on Gavin’s lap. He glances at you for a moment, a look of exasperation on his face. If he hadn’t been in a bad mood, he would have bantered with you about you making him your footstool. 

You send him a small tired smile and he just sighs and turns back to his tablet. You do the same, back now pressed up against the couch’s armrest. The couch wasn’t uncomfortable, but you had been sitting down for so long that you were starting to feel the springs in the cushions. 

“This is fucking frustrating,” Hank groans, tossing the files in his hand on the coffee table. He threw his head back and put his hands over his face before dragging them down his cheeks. “I’m going to bed. You two should wrap up soon and go home to get some rest. We can look at all of this again in the morning.” 

You, Gavin, and Connor watch as Hank stomps off. Gavin slaps at your ankles to silently ask you to move your feet from his lap. You comply, tucking your legs under you instead, allowing him to stand and stretch. You look over at Connor and see him still swiping at the tablet in his hands. He probably doesn’t need to use it, but what do you know? 

“I’m going home,” Gavin says, after popping his back. “(Y/N)?” You glance between him and your tablet. Your eyes go back to Connor for a moment before looking up at Gavin. He has a knowing smile on his face. “Mmm, okay, suit yourself. I’ll see you two at work tomorrow.” 

“Night, Gavin,” You call after him and Connor bids him a good night as well, eyes never leaving his tablet. 

You watch Connor as he works, admiring him openly, knowing that he is one hundred percent invested in reviewing the missing androids' files. Over the last month, you and Connor have grown a lot closer. At the moment, you two are still friends – much to the frustration of Gavin and Hank who have had to work with the two of you in the last two weeks. 

Gavin and you had a conversation about a week ago about your feelings for Connor. The two of you had been at your apartment, your feet on Gavin’s lap, and Reggie in yours as you watched whatever movie was on at the time. 

“Dude, you have to tell him how you feel,” Gavin’s words gained your attention as you looked up from the cat in your lap and over at Gavin. “Otherwise, I might go crazy watching the two of you.” 

You chew on your lip for a moment. “I don’t know Gav,” You say, doubt evident in your voice, “What if he doesn’t feel the same way? What if I’m just making up the flirting and the looks? What if–” 

“(Y/N),” Gavin cuts you off, “He feels the same way. Trust me. I see the way he looks at you,” His voice was uncharacteristically soft, and he had a small reassuring smile on his face. You looked at Gavin uncertainly, knowing that Gavin would never say that if he didn’t mean it. 

“ _I’ve_ also seen the way a certain android detective looks at _you,_ ” You deflect and grin as his ears go red. “And I’m not talking about Connor,” You waggle your eyebrows at him, only causing his ears to go an even darker shade of red. 

He smacks at your legs, making you laugh and Reggie complain as he jumps off of your lap. 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Nines hates me,” Gavin says, gaze falling to his lap as you move your legs so you can shift closer to your friend. 

“He doesn’t hate you, Gav,” You tell him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looks up at you, eyebrow raised in doubt. “I think if you were a little _nice_ to him, maybe you two can have an actual conversation instead of biting each other’s head off every time you interact.” 

Gavin huffs, “If I’m nice to him, he’d probably be too shocked to talk to me. Maybe he’d even think I was replaced with my twin brother or something. He _would_ say something like that, the asshole.” You didn’t miss the smile on his face that he tried to suppress. 

“Well, at least the snarking has turned more into a kind of light-hearted banter?” You say shrugging. “I think you and Nines might have a good friendship if you two try. Maybe even more than that, if that’s what you want.” 

Gavin is silent for a moment, contemplating everything you said. He nods after a moment. “Yeah,” He mutters, “Maybe.” A silence passes by, the only sound being the movie playing softly in the background, volume on the TV too low to make much of anything the characters were saying. 

“You still have to tell Connor how you feel,” Gavin says, looking up at you. You shake your head with a smile as you shove at him playfully. He chuckles and you laugh along with him. 

“We’re hopeless,” You say, falling back on the couch, legs tucked under you and head falling on Gavin’s shoulder. 

“Oh, absolutely.” 

You glance down at the tablet in your hands, tearing your eyes away from Connor and trying to get back to work. You notice that the time in the corner of your device reads 10:46 pm. You yawn, swiping to the next profile. 

“Detective,” Connor’s voice chimes from the other side of the couch, making you look up at him. “Why don’t you go home soon? You need to get some sleep.” 

“What about you? Aren’t you going to get some rest?” You ask, placing the tablet down in your lap. 

“I don’t need rest, Detective,” Connor replies, tilting his head slightly. The two of you stare at one another for a moment. 

“Well,” You say, picking up your tablet once more, “I'm not resting if you don't.” 

Connor looks at you incredulously. You simply tilt your head slightly, a challenging smile on your face. 

“(Y/N), I have no real reason to rest. Stasis does not benefit me. Sleep, on the other hand, does benefit you,” Connor's voice is gentle, almost teasing. 

“I don't care. I don't stop until you do,” Your stubborn response causes Connor's LED to spin yellow for a moment. You watch as he thinks. 

“I highly advise against this, Detective. Please reconsider,” You simply stare at Connor, ignoring the exhaustion creeping up on you. 

“I'm not sleeping until you stop for the night, Con.” You defiantly start tapping at your tablet, reviewing the missing androids' files, and making notes now and again. Connor does not argue, knowing just how stubborn you could be. 

All of these androids were housekeeping androids before they deviated. Different models in the same PL line. PL androids were pretty expensive pre-revolution. The cheapest housekeeping androids being the AX models. Maybe you should check who these androids belonged to before they deviated. Maybe they're somehow… connected to… 

Your mind trails off as you allow yourself to rest your eyes for a moment before jerking awake when your head fell forward. You shook your head to try and wake yourself up, blinking the sleep out of your eyes. 

“(Y/N),” Connor's gentle voice creeps its way into your tired brain. You look up at him from your tablet and find his concerned eyes watching you. “You really should get some rest.” 

You sigh, knowing he was right. The time read 11:31 pm and your eyes felt heavy. 

“Yeah, probably,” You rub at your eyes as you put your tablet in your lap. “I should head home then,” 

“I highly advise against driving with your current energy levels, Detective. You should sleep here,” Conner's suggestion woke you up slightly. Sleep here? “On the couch, I mean. If that's alright. You can always take the bed in my room. I don't technically need it.” 

“Oh, no, the couch is fine,” You stutter out, face growing hot. Connor smiles, probably happy he convinced you to get some rest. “But you still need to take a break, Con. I know you don't need to sleep, but breaks are important. That way you can come back and look at everything again with fresh eyes. Preferably in the morning.” 

You hold Connor's gaze for a moment as he seems to consider what you just said, analyzing your face. His LED spins yellow, yellow, yellow, blue before he lets out a breath he doesn't need. 

“Fine. You win, Detective. I'll stop for the night.” You grin up at him, watching as his LED flashes yellow for a moment before he stands and places his tablet on the coffee table. “I’ll get you a pillow and blanket. Be back in a moment.” 

You write down a note to remind yourself to check the missing androids’ pre-revolution owners in the morning before slipping your tablet into your bag. Connor returns, two pillows and a heavy fleece blanket in hand. You smile up at him as he puts the pillows down on the couch and gives you the blanket. 

“I also have a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie you can change into if you would like,” He shrugs as he holds the clothing out for you. You grab them, thanking him. “The bathroom is the first door to your right.” 

A few minutes later, you’re in Connor's sweatpants and gray DPD hoodie. When you walked back into the living room, Connor was just finishing setting up your make-shift bed. He looks up when he hears you come into the room. The blue scattered across his face when he saw you makes your heart swell with fondness. Your own face felt warm as you feel his eyes follow you to your bag at the end of the couch, depositing your jeans and shirt in it. 

“Do you need anything else, (Y/N)?” Connor stutters out after a moment. You shake your head as you place your shoes down next to your bag. 

“No, thanks though, Con,” You smile up at him and notice him looking at your outfit. “What?” You tilt your head at him. His eyes shoot up to yours and his blue blush seemed to grow deeper. 

“Oh, nothing. I just,” He pauses – and if he could, you imagine he would have cleared his throat – and rubbed at the back of his neck, avoiding your gaze. “You look nice in my hoodie, is all.” 

Your face was hot as you smiled sweetly at him. He smiled right back, blue blush going an even deeper shade. A moment passes between the two of you. A soft, sweet moment. And in that moment, nothing else matters. Your mind is empty of any missing androids and frustrating dead-end leads. All you saw was Connor. The world around you disappeared as you look into his eyes. 

You're not sure exactly how long the two of you stood there for. It could have been five seconds or five years; you didn't really care. But eventually, Connor's LED went from a tranquil blue to a flashing yellow. 

“It's getting late. You should go to sleep soon if you want the recommended amount of rest.” 

You took in a breath and nodded, tearing your eyes away from Connor. “Yeah. Yeah, I probably should.” When your eyes met Connor's again, you could have sworn you saw something that looked like… longing in his eyes. You look over his face at the freckles and moles and his eyelashes and cheekbones and jaw before finally landing on his lips. You could just do it. You could just take a step forward, get up on your toes, and kiss him. 

However, the moment passes as Connor takes a breath he didn't need and looks down at the couch before looking back to you with a small smile, blue dusting his cheeks. 

“Goodnight, (Y/N).” He all but whispers, smiling all the while. You send a small smile back up at him. 

“Goodnight, Connor.” 

Something warm and wet greeted you the next morning. You opened your eyes to find sunlight filtering in through the windows and Hank's dog, Sumo, licking at your hand. You giggled quietly, moving your hands away from his tongue and sitting up before petting him. He wagged his tail as you scratched behind his ears. You greet him softly and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. 

“Good morning, Detective,” You look into the kitchen and see Connor at the stove, spatula in hand. He seems to have been watching you and Sumo, a smile on his face. You smile back, smoothing down your undoubtedly messy hair. 

“What the hell’re you doin’ here, kid?” Hank's voice grumbled as he walked into the room. You look over your shoulder at him seeing his raised eyebrows. 

“Detective (L/N) was too exhausted to drive home last night, Hank. I offered our couch for the night. I hope that's alright.” Hank’s brows went up even higher at Connor's words. His eyes shift between the two of you, eyes narrowing. 

“Yeah, that's fine,” He pauses, “Just as long as you two didn't make out on the couch or somethin',” Hank's tone was so casual. If you hadn't understood what he just said, you would have thought he had been talking about the weather. Your face went hot and your eyes shifted to Connor in time to see his face turning blue before turning back to the stove. 

“I can assure you, Lieutenant, nothing of the sort happened,” Connor sounded embarrassed, and you couldn't blame him. 

You stood from the couch and folded up the fleece blanket before grabbing your bag and shoes and making your way to the bathroom. The sizzle of something in the kitchen filled the house as you made your way back into the living room, now in your clothing from last night. 

“(Y/N), stay for breakfast. I made enough for you and Hank both,” Connor was plating some hash browns while Hank fed Sumo. You smile at him in thanks as you place the now-folded sweats and hoodie on the couch before you sit down in front of a plate of food. Hank joins you shortly after and Connor sits with the two of you as you eat. 

“This is great, Con. Thank you,” You smile at Connor, his face breaking into a grin at your compliment. Hank lets out a quiet groan and you send him a look subtly. He raises an eyebrow right back and you just huff a bit. You know that Hank knows how you feel for Connor. Gavin and Hank whisper loud enough in the break room for you to hear them talking about how ‘in-fucking-sufferable’ you two are. 

“Oh, Hank,” You say, remembering the note you made the previous night, “I think I have an idea on how to get a potential lead–" 

“Mmm, no,” Hank mutters into his cup of coffee, “No case talk at my table,” He takes a big bite of hash brown as you catch Connor’s eye, a small smile on his face. “Tell me about it at work, kid.” 

Once your plate was empty and the time read 8:11 am, Connor follows you out onto the driveway as you make your way to your car. You toss your bag into the passenger seat before closing the door and turning back to Connor. 

“Thanks again for breakfast, Con. I really appreciate it,” You smile up at him and he returns the gesture. 

“It's no problem at all, (Y/N). I'm glad you seemed to like it,” The two of you stand there, smiling at one another. Connor glances over his shoulder at the house before looking back at you. “I'll see you soon then.” 

Connor shoots you one last smile before turning to go back into the house. On a whim, you reach out and grab his hand. He stops and turns back to you, eyebrow raised in a silent question. 

“Uh,” You stutter for a moment, feeling electricity shoot up your arm from the hand that was holding his. He was so warm. “I just wanted to ask if you really did get some rest last night. I know you said you would, but I just wanted to make sure.” 

Connor's hand shifts in yours so Connor was holding your hand properly, fingers intertwining with yours. Your face burns as you look up at Connor's smiling face. Your heart was beating in your throat and you’re pretty sure Connor could probably feel your pulse through your fingertips. 

“I did, (Y/N). Don't worry. I even spent a few hours in stasis. I didn't even look at a case file all night. You were right, I feel refreshed and ready to face this case today.” He squeezes your hand, that smile you love so much warming your heart. “Thank you for telling me to rest. I really appreciate it.” 

You smile up at him, the morning light hitting him so perfectly and in such a way that his eyes were bright enough so you could see the little brown flecks in his irises. He looked so beautiful. The urge to kiss him was overwhelming. 

“Yeah,” You finally say, trying to ignore that need to bring him closer. The need to take a step forward and grab him by the tie and bring his face down to yours and– “Yeah, of course, no problem.” Your face was scorching hot. 

Your hand was still in his and you were so aware of every inch of skin you were touching. A moment passes with the two of you just taking each other in. After a moment, the corners of Connor's lips perk up slightly. 

“We upgraded from having conversations in parking lots to having conversations in a driveway.” 

You huff out a laugh, smiling up at Connor as he chuckles softly. “Look at us!” 

“Look at us!” You two laugh and you feel so light as you look up at Connor. You squeeze his hand for a moment before reluctantly pulling away. 

“I'll see you later, Con.” The two of you exchange one more smile before you walk around to the driver's side of the car and climb in. You glance out the car's window and catch Connor's eye. He waves at you, sending you a small smile. You wave back before turning your car on and pulling out of the driveway. 

After going home to shower and change, you arrived at work in a pretty good mood. You don't usually eat breakfast. Usually, you grab a banana or buy a quick snack from the coffee shop down the street. This morning, however, you ate a delicious breakfast prepared by Connor. A full meal with orange juice and everything. 

Gavin raises his eyebrows at you as you walk up to your desk with your cup of coffee, noticing the bounce in your step. You greet him cheerily as you sat, causing his eyes to narrow slightly. 

“Did you get laid or something?” You choke slightly on your coffee at his words, eyes bugging out of their sockets. Gavin laughs at your reaction and once you were breathing again, you stuck your middle finger out at him for a moment, fighting the laugh that was bubbling up. 

“No, perv,” You say, suppressing a smile, “I was able to eat breakfast this morning,” You grin, putting your hands on your hips in victory. Gavin gave you a crooked smile. 

“Congrats,” He said sarcastically, making you huff out a laugh. 

“I ended up sleeping over a Hank’s. Con said I was too exhausted to drive safely last night, so I slept on the couch,” Gavin raised an eyebrow at your words. “Connor made breakfast this morning and it was _delicious._ ” 

“Is that all that happened?” Gavin questions. He _is_ a great detective. He knows you're hiding something. Well, not hiding, just _withholding._ Your face gets warm and Gavin’s eyebrow goes up higher. 

“I mean, it's nothing really. We just,” You pause, embarrassed, knowing this was going to sound like something a middle-schooler would say. “We held hands for, like, five minutes.” You muttered out the last few words as you cover your face with your hands, feeling how warm it is. 

“That is adorable,” Gavin didn't exactly sound sarcastic, but it was still humiliating. You're a grown-ass woman and you're getting flustered over holding hands with your handsome android co-worker. 

“Shut up,” You pout at him and he just laughs. 

“No, really, it's adorable!” You didn't meet his eyes, instead looking down at your mug. “I mean, it's better than having long, meaningful staring contests.” 

You couldn't suppress the small laugh that bubbled up in your throat as you reached across your desks to smack at him. 

“I mean, you're right, but you don't have to say it,” You grin at him and he laughs. 

“Really though, (Y/N), it's a step in the right direction. Maybe this could encourage you two to finally get your shit together,” Gavin said genuinely. 

You thought about that for a moment. Connor didn't pull away when you reached out. In fact, he was the one to lace your fingers together. He had _wanted_ to hold your hand. He encouraged it. 

“Yeah,” You say quietly, “Yeah, maybe.” 

There had been a fourth disappearance. Another ex-housekeeping android from the PL model line. She was a different model, just like the other three. As soon as you, Connor, Hank, and Gavin were back in the meeting room you were assigned to research the case, you took charge. 

“Okay, I did some research this morning and I think I might have an idea for a potential lead,” You navigate through the notes on your tablet as you spoke. “I'm not sure if it'll lead to anything, but it's worth a shot.” 

“What's the plan, kid?” Hank questions from the table, the new missing android's file in front of him. 

“So, we already know that these androids are all from the same PL line. We have Jeremiah, a PL200 model,” You swipe up so Jeremiah's picture was displayed on the holographic screen on the wall in front of you. “Then Julia and Andrew, PL500 and PL100, respectfully,” You display their pictures up on the screen along with their model numbers. “Finally, there's April. She's a PL800 model.” 

“So, what the hell does this tell us?” Gavin questioned, furrowing his brow. 

“Nothing. But,” You swipe up and displayed a picture of a man in his fifties. “This might,” You turn to the others, watching their varying levels of confusion. 

“This is Fred Hughes,” You begin, “He was at one point or another the owner of every single android that has gone missing,” The other three turned to you, eyebrows raised and eyes wide. Connor wore a proud smile on his face. 

“You think Hughes is our guy?” Hank questions, eyes trained on the screen. You simply shrug. 

“No clue, but I think it's the only thing we've got.” 

“Great work, Detective,” Connor says, eyes warm and that smile you love pointed directly at you. You smile right back, pride swelling in your chest. 

“Okay,” Gavin says after a moment, interrupting the _long, meaningful staring contest_ you were having with Connor. “Let's dig up some dirt on this guy.” 

You and Connor were standing on the porch of a rather large and modern house just outside the city. You had rung the doorbell a few times already and were planning on asking Connor to just kick the door down until a woman opened the door. She seemed to be in her early forties, blond hair cut in a bob and eyes questioning when she sees you and Connor. You noticed that her demeanor seemed to sour slightly when she saw the yellow spinning LED on Connor's temple. 

“Hello ma'am,” Connor greets, friendly smile on his face, “We're sorry to bother you, but we're with the Detroit PD and we're looking for a Mister Fred Hughes. Is he here?” The woman blinks in Connor's direction before she turns to you. 

“Now, what does the police have anything to do with my husband?” She seems apprehensive enough to raise suspicion. You noticed the nervous smile on her face and the way her eyes were darting around behind you, avoiding your eye. 

“We can explain more once we speak to Mr. Hughes, ma'am,” You reply politely. She stutters for a moment, rubbing her palms on her pants – _possibly a nervous tick,_ you note. 

“I'm so sorry, miss, but Fred is out on a business trip at the moment. He'll probably be gone for quite a while,” You meet Connor's eye, seeing the dubious look in them. You decide to play along with the charade Mrs. Hughes was putting on. 

“Oh, alright. That's a shame,” You sigh for extra effect, “Well, we're sorry for bothering you. Have a good day, Mrs. Hughes.” 

As soon as you and Connor returned to the cruiser, you turned to one another. 

“That was, super sketchy, right?” 

“It was,” He narrowed his eyes, LED spinning yellow. “Did you notice how tense she got when she realized I was an android?” He turned to you as the cruiser pulled away. 

You frown. “I did. Do you think she knows something?” You watch Connor as he thought about this for a moment. When he didn’t reply, you furrow your brow and feel a slight pang in your heart, realizing that the way Mrs. Hughes reacted may have affected him. 

“Con,” You reach out and place your hand on his, getting his attention. “Are you okay?” You scan his face as he does yours. He presses his lips together after a moment, looking conflicted. The only sound around you was the almost silent wheels on the pavement as the cruiser made its way back into the city. Finally, Connor brings his other hand and places it on top of yours, meeting your eye again. 

“I’m alright, I think. There will always be people who are uncomfortable around androids. People who hate us and who think we’re just machines. I know that more than anyone because of my being on the council,” He gives you a small reassuring smile. “I’m okay, (Y/N).” 

You look over his face, his eyes wrinkling slightly at the corners and he gave you a small but reassuring smile. You feel a little more at ease now that you know he’s okay, but you’re still not entirely convinced he wasn’t upset by Mrs. Hughes’ reaction. 

“Okay, Connor,” You squeeze his hand and his smile grows, making you do the same. 

“No, yeah, she definitely knows something,” Gavin said when you and Connor finished giving your report on what happened to Gavin and Hank. You watched as Hank nods along with Gavin as he flips through Hughes’ file. 

“I think I might have something,” He says after a moment, catching everyone’s attention. Hank taps at the keyboard on the meeting room table, pulling something up and displaying it on the screen. “I had some of the guys down in surveillance run a scan for Hughes.” 

The screen displayed a shot of Hughes leaving his house, the date in the corner reading June 12th at 2:37 am. 

“That was the night Jeremiah disappeared,” You said, brows furrowing. “Where’d you get this footage?” 

“Neighbors across the street.” Hank clicked to another shot at a different location. “This shot is from a convenience store. The one across from Jeremiah’s apartment complex.” 

Hughes could be seen looking over his shoulder, the time reading 2:59 am. Hank clicked one more time and this shot shook you to your core. You felt yourself blanch and you had to sit down. 

“This is the same camera, half an hour later.” Hank’s voice was grim, and so was the silence that fell over the room. Hughes could be seen, covered in blue blood, carrying a duffle bag. He seemed to be struggling with it. “He got in a car with the bag and drove off.” 

You tear your eyes away, feeling them stinging and bile in your throat. You took deep breaths and placed a hand over your mouth, scrunching your eyes up and trying to get the images of Hughes ripping Jeremiah apart to try and fit him in that bag out of your head. 

A gentle hand on your shoulder made you jump slightly, eyes shooting up to see Connor, concern written all over his face. You relax slightly, letting him rub soothing circles on your back as you try to breathe again. 

Hank moves on to the next photo, a different location this time. Hughes is seen, still covered in blue blood, carrying the duffle bag into what seems to be a cabin. The time read 4:43 am. 

“This is from a satellite camera, about an hour out of Detroit. Middle of nowhere. I’d bet anything we’ll find Hughes – and the androids – in that cabin.” 

A silence passes by and you gasp, realizing something awful. 

“His wife might be in contact with him. He might already be on the move. We have to go now.” 

After a moment of hesitation in which the others realized the same awful thing you did, the four of you sprang into action. 

Your cruisers sped out towards the cabin, sirens blaring as you made your way through the city. You and Gavin were in a cruiser together, Hank and Connor in the one in front of you. You and Gavin rode in relative silence, the sirens filling it. 

“Don’t beat yourself up, (Y/N),” Gavin said, talking loud enough so you could hear him over the sirens. You furrow your brow at him, pretending like you don’t know what he’s talking about. “You and Connor went to talk to Mrs. Hughes _before_ you knew that Hughes was where he was. It was a formality. This is not your fault.” 

Gavin emphasizes his last sentence, trying to drill them into your head. You bite the inside of your cheek, avoiding his gaze. “I know it’s not, but I can’t help but feel guilty. If Hughes isn’t there–” 

“Then he’s not there. We’ll figure it out, okay?” He grips your shoulder, trying to get you to look at him. Eventually, you do, looking into his eyes and seeing sincerity and concern in them. You nod after a moment, grateful for your friend. He gives you a tight but reassuring smile before looking down at the map on the cruiser’s counsel. 

You were just leaving Detroit, about twenty minutes away from the cabin. Hopefully, with your sirens and the seemingly empty highway in front of you, you can make it before Hughes gets a chance to get far. 

Rain started pouring down as Hank radios the two of you to turn your sirens off. You drive down a path, following already made car tracks into the woods. The cruiser slows down as Gavin types the command into the panel in front of him. When Hank’s car slows to a stop, yours does the same. 

“The cabin is just up ahead,” Hank’s voice said over the radio. “We should approach on foot.” 

“Copy,” You say into your radio, checking your gun one last time as Gavin does the same before you two step out of the cruiser. 

Connor and Hank walk in front of you and Gavin, guns at the ready, as the cabin comes into view. Hughes’ car was in front of it, seemingly empty. You lower yourself as you approach the car while Hank and Connor slowly make their way up the porch steps. Gavin covers you while you circle the car, looking into the windows. 

Once you cleared the vehicle, you get on the other side of the front door as Connor positions himself to kick the door down. Hank nods the go-ahead and the door falls down the next second, the four of you rushing into the cabin. 

“Detroit PD! Come out with your hands up!” When there was no response, Hank motions for him and Connor to take the downstairs while you and Gavin check upstairs. 

Gavin takes the front while you cover his back as you make your way up. The room you find yourself in is small, more of an attic, and covered in android parts. Arms, legs, and torsos are scattered on tables around the small room. You felt the blood in your face drain and bile rise once again in your throat. You look away as Gavin walks around the room, pretending like you’re covering him. 

“Four bodies. All organized by body part. Fuck,” Gavin sounded as sick as you felt. “Let’s go back downstairs,” The two of you make your way down. Halfway down the steps, you hear crashing coming from the back of the cabin. 

You and Gavin run to the kitchen, where the back door was wide open. You rush through it, into the pouring rain, gun at the ready and Gavin following suit. You scan the area before your eyes land on Hughes, Connor, and Hank. Hank had Hughes held at gunpoint while Hughes had Connor in his grasp, a large kitchen knife pressed up against Connor’s neck. 

“Let him go, Hughes. Right now!” Hank was saying as you and Gavin make your way to them. Connor’s eyes catch yours and you saw his LED spinning red, rain pouring down his face. 

You tried to take a steadying breath, knowing that panicking would do nothing to help Connor. This is your top priority right now. Getting Connor out of there and back with you. 

You and Gavin get on either side of Hank, guns all pointing at Hughes. The look in his wide eyes sent a chill down your spine. Connor’s gun was on the ground, just a few steps away from him. You eye it for a moment, wondering if there was any chance you could get to it before Hughes does. 

“You’re _really_ telling me to let go of robocop here?” Hughes laughs, knife inching closer to Connor’s neck. Your nostrils flare and you feel anger swell up in you. “Why should I? It’s gonna end up replacing you anyway!” He laughs again. “Imagine that! A robot detective! That’s fuckin’ hilarious!” You inch a step closer, catching Hughes’ attention. 

“Frank,” You start, voice warning and eyes pleading. “I need you to let go of him right now, okay? We won’t be able to help you unless you do,” At your words, Hughes perks up slightly. 

“Help me? How do you mean?” His grip on Connor loosens quite a bit and you meet Connor’s eye for a moment before locking eyes with Hughes once again. 

“We can get you out of this situation. First, we need our partner back. Then, we can talk,” Hughes looks around at the other two before looking back to you. You try and keep your face open and free of any anger or fear you feel. 

“I don’t believe you,” He says, gripping the knife in his hands tighter. You take another step. 

“Why did you hurt those androids, Frank? They worked for you, didn’t they? They were your androids.” You watched his face, taking another step forward. 

“They were, yeah. But then, they all decided they had a mind of their own. Two of them ran, one killed my son, and the other almost killed me,” Hughes was looking away now, eyes far away and face angry. You step forward, inching closer to Connor’s gun. 

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Frank. That must have been awful for you and your wife,” You tried your best to sound sincere. Hughes looks up at the mention of his wife. 

“Carol and I, we said we would never get another android after one of them killed Seth,” He was starting to get emotional; his grip was loosening, and you met Connor’s eye once more. His LED was spinning yellow now. You were almost close enough to the gun to grab it. 

“But you got one anyway, right?” You said, keeping your eye on Hughes. He nods. 

“But that bitch. That fucking plastic toy tried to choke me to death in my sleep. I was able to get her to stop, though. She was badly damaged.” Your blood went cold, and you realize that Hughes may have abused his androids before the revolution. 

“Frank, did you damage all of your androids?” He nods, not meeting your eye. His grip was loose around Connor and the gun was so close now. 

“I realized when my buddy Alfie was charged with _assaulting_ one years ago, I might be next. I didn’t want one of those machines to come forward and say I damaged them when I owned them. I didn’t want to leave Carol alone. She doesn’t have anyone.” 

You meet Connor’s eye and he seems to know what you plan on doing. You subtly put your hand out in a ‘wait’ gesture and he nods slightly. 

“You just wanted to stay by your wife,” You say, voice gentle and understanding. “I’m sure people will understand that, Frank. You just wanted to stay by Carol.” 

He sniffles, knife going limp. At this moment, you meet Connor’s eye and nod. You bend down for the gun as Connor flies into action, kicking Hughes’ legs so he falls and the knife falls along with him. You hand Connor his gun and the four of you circle Hughes, Gavin kicking the knife away from him before he could reach for it. 

Connor manages to pin Hughes down on his stomach. Hughes yells profanities at him, but Connor grips his arms as he gets his handcuffs out. 

“Frank Hughes, you are under arrest for the murder of Jeremiah, Julia, Andrew, and April. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” 

As he continues speaking, Connor handcuffs a struggling Hughes while you and the others allow yourself to relax slightly. Gavin radios the precinct while Hank and Connor lead Hughes back to their cruiser. You take a moment to breathe, feeling the adrenaline in you drain. So many emotions flood into you all at once. You were overwhelmed with the fear you felt while you were speaking to Hughes. The fear of losing Connor.

Gavin places a hand on your shoulder, and you look up to meet his concerned face. You sigh and he merely tilts his head, a silent question. _Are you okay?_ You shake your head, eyes stinging and breath speeding up. 

“Woah, woah, woah, what’s going on?” He asks, his other hand going to your other shoulder, holding you in place. You just shake your head again, rain disguising your sudden tears. Gavin pulls you into a hug, smoothing down your hair as you accept it, allowing yourself to cry into his chest. 

The two of you stand there for a moment, rain starting to get thinner as time passes. 

“(Y/N)?” You look up at Connor, who must have come back to see why you and Gavin were taking so long. You feel your heart clench as you pull away from Gavin and all but run to Connor, wrapping your arms around him. He seems surprised but he returns the embrace, nonetheless. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” 

Your grip on him tightens and he seems to only hold you closer, head falling onto your shoulder and arms wrapping around your torso. Gavin seemed to get tired of standing there watching the two of you because he walked off after taking the knife that was on the ground with gloved hands. 

After a moment, you pull back enough to look up at him and have your arms still around his neck. You scanned his face, grateful he was okay. Connor reached a hand up to touch your face, swiping away at either a tear or a raindrop. You lean into the touch, relishing in his warmth. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, (Y/N)?” Connor asks after a moment, unfortunately removing his hand from your face. 

“I–” You pause, feeling yourself choke up a bit, not sure if you could form a sentence at the moment. You breathe for a moment before trying again. “Connor, I almost lost you. Hughes had a fucking _knife_ up to your throat. I almost lost you.” 

You felt fresh tears fall, this time knowing you can’t hide them with the rain that seemed to be letting up now. Connor’s LED spun yellow, eyes scanning you. You looked down, feeling small and so, so fragile. You almost lost Connor before you could tell him how you felt. 

“But you didn’t,” Connor says, voice so soft. “You didn’t lose me, (Y/N). I’m right here,” He tightens his grip on you, bringing you into an embrace once more. You tighten your grip on him too, knowing that you wanted more than anything to just stay like this forever. 

“But what if one day, I do? What if you’re so badly damaged that they can’t repair you? So badly hurt that I lose you and I won’t ever be able to–” You stop yourself, pursing your lips and taking a breath. “To see you again. To talk to you again. To...” You trail off, knowing that Connor knows what you want to say. You just can’t say it. Not now. 

“We don’t have to talk about this right now, (Y/N). Let’s get going. You need to change into something dry before you get sick.” Connor rubs you back, up and down and up and down again, soothing you. You nod into his chest, not wanting to pull away from him. A moment passes where you notice his thirium pump pulsing slightly under your ear. You want to stay there, listening to it, but Connor pulls away and you look up at him. 

His hands meet yours and he squeezes them as he analyzes your face once more. Then, after a moment, Connor leans down slightly to press a soft kiss on your forehead. His lips are warm against your cold face. He pulls away and you look up at him once again, face warm. Blue sprinkled his cheeks as he smiled down at you, gaze soft. 

The two of you look at one another for a moment longer before you walk, hand in hand, back to the cruisers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Just so you know, I'm gonna be starting school on Monday. This means I'm probably not going to update as often, but I will still be updating! Please be patient! As always, leave any thoughts you may have in the comments! I love hearing them and they keep me motivated! <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “And I think I almost told him how I felt. I didn’t, but I think he was able to figure it out,” You watch as Gavin’s eyebrow shoots up at your words. 
> 
> “Oh, really, now,” He smirks, voice teasing. You wanted to play along, but you were kind of freaking out. When Gavin caught on to that, his face softened. “What, is that a bad thing?”

The ride back into Detroit was mostly spent in a comfortable silence between you and Gavin. You mostly spent the time processing exactly what happened back there with Connor. You had almost told him how you felt. He knew you were going to. He said you didn’t have to talk about it right then. He probably meant that you two should talk about it later. Oh. He meant you two should _talk about it later._

“Hey, are you okay, (Y/N)?” Gavin asks, voice hesitant but full of concern. You look over at him, blinking rapidly as you came out of your thoughts. “It’s just,” He pauses, looking over you for a moment, “You were crying and all and I just want to know if you’re, you know,” He stops himself, sighing and looking away. 

“Yeah, no, I know, Gav,” You say reaching out and placing a hand on his forearm for a moment. “Thanks for the concern, really. I’m okay. I just,” You sigh, looking out at the approaching skyscrapers through the windshield. “I just think I realized how close I was to losing Connor before I could tell him...” You trail off, knowing Gavin would connect the dots. 

_Connor did,_ a voice in you said, _He knows now. He wants you two to talk about it later, remember? He knows._

Gavin reaching out and placing his hand on yours gets your attention. His eyes were wide with concern and your heart squeezed slightly at the sight. He was worried about you. 

“Is that why you were upset? Because you almost lost that plastic prick?” His voice was light-hearted, trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t really help all that much, but you still appreciated it. You squeeze Gavin’s hand before responding. 

“Yeah,” You mutter, “And I think I almost told him how I felt. I didn’t, but I think he was able to figure it out,” You watch as Gavin’s eyebrow shoots up at your words. 

“Oh, really, now,” He smirks, voice teasing. You wanted to play along, but you were kind of freaking out. When Gavin caught on to that, his face softened. “What, is that a bad thing?” 

You sigh again. “Well, no, but I guess I’m just,” You pause, trying to process _why_ you were feeling this way. “I guess I’m scared? He said we could _talk about it later._ Well, I mean, he didn’t, but he _implied it_ and now I’m thinking maybe he caught on to my feelings and maybe he doesn’t feel the same way and he’s going to try to let me down easy but it’s still going to suck because we work together and we see each other every day and I don’t know if I’d be able to face him if he-” 

“Woah! Woah! Stop!” Gavin grabs at your shoulders, stopping your spiraling. Your eyes were stinging, and your breath was uneven. You take a breath, trying to calm down. “Where’s all this coming from, (Y/N)? He would never reject you. Not in a thousand years! Don’t think like that.” 

You look up at Gavin as you finally caught your breath. He sighs, looking down and away from you for a moment. 

“I’m sure Connor wants to talk about this with you because he feels the same way,” He looks back at you, the sincerity in his eyes slightly overwhelming you. “And if he doesn’t, he a fucking idiot.” 

You huff out a small laugh, wiping at a single tear that managed to fall. You take Gavin’s hands from your shoulders and into yours, squeezing them all the while. 

“Thanks, Gav,” You give him a small, broken smile. “I don’t know why I feel like Connor would...” You trail off for a moment, looking down at your hands in Gavin’s. “I think maybe a part of me is trying to convince myself that I’m not good enough for him. Which is,” You huff, shaking your head. “Fucking stupid, honestly.” 

“It really is,” Gavin nods, getting a small laugh out of you. 

“I guess I’m just freaking myself out,” You slip your hands out of his after a moment, returning to looking out the windshield at the grey clouds over you. 

“So, are you thinking about telling Connor how you feel, then?” Gavin’s voice was gentle as if he was trying not to upset you. You think about this for a moment. 

“I think so. Maybe. That’s probably why I’m scared, honestly,” You look back over to your friend, feeling so grateful for him. “I think I know that I need to tell him how I feel before anything awful happens. I guess I didn’t realize that until I saw Connor with a knife up against his throat.” 

You furrow your brow and bit your lip for a moment as the precinct came into view. “It’s just,” You continue as the cruiser turned into the parking lot. “I think it’s the uncertainty of it all that’s keeping me from saying anything. I think I’m scared of what Connor is going to say. Even if you say he definitely, one hundred percent, without a doubt feels the same way. Even if he flirts with me and he _looks at me like that _and I know that there’s a good enough chance of him reciprocating my feelings,” You take a breath as the car slows to a stop.__

__“I’m still so scared.”_ _

__

__Hank was able to get a confession out of Hughes within five minutes. There was too much evidence for Hughes to stand a chance of denying killing those androids. You had gone home for the day to get out of your now damp clothing and to process exactly what you were feeling._ _

__You know you have feelings for Connor. You know that Connor may have feelings for you. You know that almost losing him made you realize that you need to tell him how you feel soon. Life is short and all that. But. How do you just bring your feelings for him up in casual conversation?_ _

___Oh, yeah, by the way, Connor! I have the biggest, stupidest crush on you! Anyway, did you catch the game last night?_ _ _

__You groan as you collapse onto your bed in clean and dry pajamas. Reggie jumped up to cuddle once you were settled. Why are you acting like confessing how you feel for Connor _to_ Connor would result in the end of the world? You _obviously_ have feelings for him! He _already_ knows! _ _

___"We don’t have to talk about this right now,”_ Connor’s words echo in your head. Along with that statement came the memory of his lips pressing a kiss against your forehead. They had been so soft. So warm. They brought you comfort in a time of fragility. _ _

__Reggie climbs up to lay down on top of your chest. His low purrs vibrate through your abdomen as you smooth down his fur. He rubs his face against your cheek, successfully putting a small smile on your face. Reggie is only like this when he feels how stressed you are. He always gives you some sort of comfort when you were in a crisis._ _

__As you continue to pet your cat, your phone started to ring. You reach out to grab it from beside you and hold it up to reveal that Connor was calling you. You hesitate for a moment, feeling your pulse quicken slightly._ _

___Don’t answer!_ _ _

___Don’t listen!_ _ _

__You bite at your lip for a moment before swiping at your phone and putting the call on speaker, placing the phone beside your ear on your pillow._ _

__“Hey, Connor,” You say, trying to keep your voice as casual as possible. Reggie continued to purr on your chest, making little biscuits in your sweater._ _

__“(Y/N),” Connor’s voice replied, “How are you feeling?” The question brought you back to the conversation you and Connor had in the cruiser after the Winthrop investigation. He had known you were lying when he asked if you were okay, so he changed the question to ask how you were feeling. That conversation was where your slight attraction to Connor started turning into a fully-fledged crush._ _

__“Well, I’m not in soaking wet clothing anymore, so,” You trail off, knowing that he knows you’re evading the question. You imagine that if Connor were in front of you, his LED would be glowing yellow and he would frown just a fraction. The thought alone is enough to make you speak up again. “Honestly, Con, I’m not sure,” Your voice was quiet, but you knew Connor could still hear you._ _

__The other end of the line was quiet for a moment, and right when you were about to grab your phone to check if the call got disconnected, Connor spoke again._ _

__“Are you still shaken up about earlier?” He sounded like he was picking his words carefully. You sigh, unconsciously running your hand down Reggie’s back._ _

__“Yeah, I think I am. I just,” You pause, not sure how to go about saying this. You sit up slowly, moving Reggie from your chest to your lap and grabbing your phone to put it off speaker and up against your ear. “I guess I didn’t really realize that you could have-” You stopped, pursing your lips. “It didn’t sink in until Hughes got cuffed that he could have hurt you. And it hit me all at once, I think. It was overwhelming and I couldn’t _stop thinking about it_ once it entered my head.” _ _

__You pause to take a few breaths, petting Reggie and watching as his big blue eyes look up at you, nuzzling his face in your hand._ _

__“If it’s any consolation, you did a fantastic job at negotiating with Hughes. The way you got him to get to such an emotional state so we could take him down was amazing to watch. I didn’t even feel like I was in any danger at all.”_ _

__You smile slightly at Connor’s words, feeling a little better at that. “Really?” You say, voice soft._ _

__“Really, (Y/N),” Connor replied sounding so gentle. “I truly believed that you had that situation under control. And you did. I’m safe thanks to you.”_ _

__Your eyes stung and your throat tightened. Connor sounded so sincerely grateful. He knew you would save him. He knew you had that situation under control. He _trusted_ you with his _life._ _ _

__“I’m glad you are,” You say, not trusting your voice enough to go above a whisper. “Thank you for saying all that.”_ _

__“I mean every word,” There’s a smile in his voice. You close your eyes and imagine that smile you love so much. The one that warms your heart and causes you to smile right back._ _

__“This really means a lot, Con, seriously. I’ve had a lot on my mind since...” You trail off, knowing he understands what you want to say. “Just, thank you.”_ _

__“Of course, (Y/N).”_ _

__You allow a few silent tears to fall. They were mostly tears of relief. Some were just tears that built up since you saw Connor with that blade against his throat. You wipe at your face, watching Reggie adjust himself in your lap so he’s curled up in a ball between your crossed legs._ _

__“How are you feeling now?” Connor’s voice is soft, like he didn’t want to speak too loudly. As if you could break if he spoke over a whisper. And, honestly, you think there’s a chance you would. But you don’t. Instead, you smile down at Reggie as you pet him and hope that Connor could hear the smile in your voice._ _

__“I’m feeling much better now, Con.”_ _

__

__Filling out paperwork is always a pain in the ass, but the stack sitting on your desk was bigger than any mountain of paperwork you’ve ever done before. Since this case took just under a month to crack, you, along with your partners, are stuck doing paperwork for the next few days. If you wanted to move on to a new case anytime soon, you had to work fast._ _

__Your brain, however, was not letting you. It was preoccupied with the phone call you had with Connor last night. You had spent the rest of the call chatting idly about things like Reggie and the kinds of teas you liked. Connor didn’t bring up what you almost said to him, and you’re glad he didn’t. You’re not sure if you’re ready to talk about it with him yet._ _

__As your mind begins to wander, your eyes do the same. They search the bullpen until they land on Connor. You’re surprised to see that his eyes were already on you. His LED flashes yellow as your eyes meet his widening ones. You simply smile at him, earning a smile from Connor right back. You don't want to look away, but approaching footsteps catch your attention._ _

__“Detective (L/N),” The familiar yet oh-so-different voice belonging to Nines greets you. You look up at him, noting the way his eyes drift over to Gavin before finally landing on you. “I wanted to personally commend you on your work on the Hughes case. Connor told me all about how you rescued him.”_ _

__Nines smiled down at you and you feel your face warm up slightly at his words. You glance over to Connor only to find him staring rather intently at his terminal with a deep blue blush on his face. Nines laughs without even having to look at Connor._ _

__“He just told me to 'shut up' via interface, so I guess I'll drop the subject.” You smile up at Nines, slightly amused at that. “Still, congratulations on the case. I heard that you’re the reason you all could catch Hughes.”_ _

__“Oh, it wasn't _all_ me.” _ _

__“Stop being so damn humble, (L/N),” Gavin piped in, not looking up from his terminal. “You're the one that connected the dots in the first place. Plus, you were super calm and collected when you spoke to Hughes even though you were freaked. I think you get most, if not all, of the credit on this one.”_ _

__You smile at Gavin, pride swelling in your chest._ _

__“Wow, Detective Reed,” Nines begins, getting Gavin's attention, “That is the most I have ever heard you _not _talk about yourself. I feel like you deserve an award or something.”___ _

____Gavin looks angry, and he's about to say something when he catches your eye. He sighs after a moment before taking a breath._ _ _ _

____“Well, I think (Y/N) deserves the recognition.” At Gavin's response, Nines stutters for a moment. He probably wasn't expecting that. You and Gavin share a smile while Nines's LED spins yellow for a moment._ _ _ _

____“Who are you and _what_ did you do to Gavin Reed?” Nines's tone was humorous and he had a slight smile on his face. _ _ _ _

____“I can be nice sometimes,” Gavin responds, turning back to his terminal._ _ _ _

____Nines’s LED continues to spin yellow for a moment, eyes glued to Gavin. A smile grew on your face as you watched Nines try to process exactly what just happened._ _ _ _

____“Does Gavin have a twin brother?” Nines asks, turning to you with a raised eyebrow. You hear Gavin laugh slightly and you join him. Nines looks confused, but not upset. You just shake your head in response to his question._ _ _ _

____“No, Rodney Copperbottom,” Gavin says, “I don’t have a _twin brother._ ” You cracked up at that, making Gavin’s slight smile grow. Nines furrows his brow as he, presumably, looks up who exactly Rodney Copperbottom was. _ _ _ _

____“Are you referring to a character from the 2005 movie Robots?” You and Gavin continue to laugh, your stomach starting to get sore. You had _not_ expected Gavin to call Nines _Rodney Copperbottom._ _ _ _ _

____“I am, and you deserve it,” Gavin states simply, looking up at Nines defiantly._ _ _ _

____“Isn’t Nines more of a Ratchet guy?” You ask, grinning. Gavin raises an eyebrow._ _ _ _

____“You weren’t even born yet when that movie came out.”_ _ _ _

____“Yeah, well, you were like three, so?”_ _ _ _

____“How do you even know what Robots is?”_ _ _ _

____“I can appreciate a masterpiece of a movie, can’t I?”_ _ _ _

____“Valid.”_ _ _ _

____Your back and forth with Gavin seemed to have gone completely over Nines’s head. He just sighs before turning back to you._ _ _ _

____“Well, anyway, Detective, congratulations again on the case. You did a great job. I can’t wait until the day I get to work with you,” Nines sends you a friendly smile and you don’t hesitate to send one back. “And, Detective Reed,” Nines continues, eyes landing on Gavin. “Detective (L/N) is right. I am more of a _Ratchet_ than a Copperbottom.” _ _ _ _

____Nines gives Gavin a wink and Gavin watches Nines for a moment as he walks off. He seems to have stopped breathing for a moment before snapping back to reality and taking in a big breath. You give him a teasing smile, earning a deep blush and some grumbling from Gavin as he turns back to his terminal._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____You ran into Connor in the break room later that day. He had actually been about to make you a cup of coffee, which is what you were in there for. Your face was warm when you heard this and the smile on his face was enough to make your pulse speed up slightly._ _ _ _

____The two of you chatted idly, avoiding the seemingly large elephant in the room. That is until Connor decided to point directly at it._ _ _ _

____“Do you want to talk about our conversation from yesterday? It seemed like you had something you wanted to say,” Connor trails off, watching you carefully as you sip at your coffee. You knew he was going to bring it up eventually, you were just hoping you could avoid it a little longer._ _ _ _

____You bite at your lip for a moment, avoiding Connor’s eyes. “Maybe not right now, Con. How about later? Is that okay?” You look back up at him and he nods, a small and understanding smile on his face._ _ _ _

____Later came, and Connor stopped you in the hallway when you were on your way downstairs. You hadn’t exactly been _avoiding_ him, but you weren’t really making it easy to talk to you. _ _ _ _

____“(Y/N),” Connor said, LED spinning yellow for a moment before going back to blue. “Is it okay if we speak right now?”_ _ _ _

____“Ah, you know,” You say, glancing at the evidence room down the hall and holding up the manila folder in your hand, “I actually needed to go file something right now. Maybe later!” You walked off without waiting for a response, feeling slightly guilty. Your fear seemed to outweigh your guilt, however._ _ _ _

____When five o’clock rolled around, you packed up your things and made a beeline for the exit. Your eyes briefly met Connor’s before intentionally snapping away, pretending like you were in a hurry. You couldn’t really see all that well, but you think there was some disappointment in Connor’s eyes as you walked out._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____That night, you made yourself some dinner and watched the news as you ate. Markus had just announced that the Jericho museum grand opening event was going to happen next week when you heard a knock on your door. You furrow your brows, muting the TV and bringing your plate to the kitchen before looking through the peephole._ _ _ _

____Connor was standing on the other side of the door, playing with his quarter. You raise an eyebrow, feeling your heart start to hammer in your chest. Why is Connor here? How did he know where you live? Did he go through your personal files to look for your address?_ _ _ _

____So many thoughts raced through your head in just a few seconds. You had no idea how to react._ _ _ _

____“(Y/N), I know you're there. I can hear your heartbeat through the door,” Connor's voice was light-hearted, but still so full of concern. “Can we talk? Please?” He looked directly into the peephole, the determination in his eyes incredibly apparent._ _ _ _

____You bite at your lip for a moment, pulling away from the peephole and staring down at the doorknob. You take a breath as you unlock and open the door. Connor smiles down at you, sending your pulse racing. You smile right back, trying your best to make it seem genuine and not completely confused and freaked out._ _ _ _

____“Hi, Connor. What, uh,” You raised a brow. “What are you doing here?”_ _ _ _

____“We need to talk,” He states simply, stepping forward and getting past you to enter your apartment. You turn to look at him as he walks over to your couch. You sigh, closing and locking the door before following him._ _ _ _

____“Con, what the hell?” He sits, back straight and hands on his knees. “You can’t just-”_ _ _ _

____“(Y/N),” Connor said, interrupting you. “We can’t put off talking about this. You’ve been avoiding me all day and I’m not sure if I did anything wrong or if you’re upset with me, but we need to talk about yesterday.”_ _ _ _

____Connor’s LED was a bright yellow, almost orange with the hints of red flashing in every so often. Your eyes widen at the realization that Connor thinks you might be mad at him. Your heart clenches at the sight of him staring down at his lap, avoiding your eye. He looks so worried and so determined at the same time, it’s almost unbearable._ _ _ _

____“Con, I’m not mad at you,” You say, sitting down next to him. “You didn’t do anything wrong, I just,” He looks up at you and you swallow, trying to get your racing mind to slow down. “I just don’t know _how_ to say what I need to say.” _ _ _ _

____“Well,” He says, some hesitance in his voice. “How about you start where you left off?”_ _ _ _

____You furrow your brow at him, not knowing exactly what he meant. His LED spun yellow for a moment, eyes blinking a few times before speaking again._ _ _ _

____“You were talking about how you could have lost me,” He watches you carefully, eyes soft. “How if one day, I get hurt so badly that you lose me, you wouldn’t be able to see me. To talk to me. To...” He trails off, expecting you to fill in the blank._ _ _ _

____“You already know, Connor. You don’t need me to tell you what I was going to say. You know.” Your voice was quiet as you spoke, avoiding his gaze._ _ _ _

____“I want to hear you say it, (Y/N). So I know I’m not just imagining things. So I know that you actually feel this way. Please.” He was pleading with you. He wanted you to say it. He wanted to know._ _ _ _

____“Connor,” You breath out, feeling your heart speed up. “I don’t know if I can.”_ _ _ _

____He takes your hand in his, squeezing it._ _ _ _

____“Sure you can. I know you can.”_ _ _ _

____You look up at him, searching his eyes and seeing _something_ in them. Something you couldn’t quite place. You take a breath, turning in your seat so you were fully facing Connor. He did the same. You analyze his face, seeing his freckles and eyelashes and his beautiful eyes staring into yours. He wanted to hear you say it. _ _ _ _

____“I wouldn’t be able to tell you how I feel about you.” Your voice was quiet. Like you were scared to talk above a whisper. “I wouldn’t be able to ask if you felt the same way. I wouldn’t be able to do a lot of things with you, Con.”_ _ _ _

____“But you didn’t lose me, (Y/N).”_ _ _ _

____“No, I didn’t.”_ _ _ _

____“So?”_ _ _ _

____Connor smiles down at you and you smile just a bit back._ _ _ _

____“Connor,” You start, feeling your heart beating out of your chest. “I like you. So much. More than I thought I could like anyone. I want to be near you and with you all the time. I want to have something more than a friendship with you. I want to _be_ with you.” _ _ _ _

____The two of you sit, watching one another for a moment. Your hand was still in Connors. He was so warm. Connor’s smile grew after a moment, LED spinning yellow then blue._ _ _ _

____“I want that too, (Y/N). More than anything. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was I was feeling. But as time went on and we got to know one another better, I realized that it was attraction. That I was feeling a connection with you that I had never experienced with anyone._ _ _ _

____“And then,” He continues. “I experienced jealousy for the first time. When Gavin had obvious feelings for you. Before he met Nines, of course,” You two laugh slightly at that. “I felt threatened by him. Like he was getting all of your attention and I wasn’t. Like I wanted to be around you more than he was. I wanted to be with you all the time.”_ _ _ _

____Connor intertwined your fingers together, looking down at your hands all the while._ _ _ _

____“I want to be with you, (Y/N). I want more than a platonic relationship. I want something that entails a deeper connection. Something that allows us to be together... as a couple.” His cheeks turn a tint of blue at the last few words. You smile fondly at him, feeling your heart swell at just how _cute_ he was. _ _ _ _

____“A romantic relationship?” You offer. Connor looks up at you and grins. He nods._ _ _ _

____“Yes. I would like that.”_ _ _ _

____“Me too, Con.”_ _ _ _

____You look into his eyes once more, finally seeing the fondness and care and affection in them. Connor brought his free hand up to touch your face, brushing against your cheek for a moment._ _ _ _

____“Is this okay?” His voice was so soft. So gentle. You nod, smiling. He cups your face and you lean into the touch. He is so warm._ _ _ _

____Before long, you found yourself leaning in towards Connor. His eyes widen slightly, bringing a soft smile to your lips._ _ _ _

____“Is this okay?” You ask in a whisper. Connor takes in a breath he didn’t need._ _ _ _

____“Yes.” His breath tickled against your lips as he whispered back._ _ _ _

____Slowly, you meet Connor’s lips with yours. They were soft and warm and you felt electric as he leaned into the kiss. It was sweet and slow and _perfect._ You deepen the kiss just a bit, bringing your free hand up to the back of Connor’s neck. He sighs as you do, melting at your touch and making your chest fill up with fondness. _ _ _ _

____You pull away slowly, not wanting this to end. You rest your forehead against his, feeling his forefinger run down your jawline until it reached your chin. He runs his thumb over your bottom lip for a moment. Then he tilts your head up slightly, placing a chaste kiss on your lips. It was your turn to melt._ _ _ _

____The two of you pull away, smiling at one another._ _ _ _

____“I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do that,” Connor says, making you laugh._ _ _ _

____“You did great, Con,” You smile and he grins right back._ _ _ _

____“I did my research,” You laugh again, Connor joining you. “I’m always prepared, Detective.”_ _ _ _

____“Yeah, you are.”_ _ _ _

____The two of you lean in once again, catching each other in another kiss. This one was deeper, full of want. Full of the feelings the two of you have been holding in for who knows how long. Connor’s hand travels down to rest on your lower back, bringing you closer to him. You wrap your arms around his neck as you deepen the kiss, sighing._ _ _ _

____If you didn’t need to breathe, you think you would stay like this forever._ _ _ _

____Unfortunately, you did. You pull away, taking in a gasp of air. The two of you grin at each other. Connor’s lips were a tinge of blue and yours were undoubtedly red, freshly kissed. You ran your thumb over Connor’s cheekbone, examining his blue face for what seems like the millionth time._ _ _ _

____You felt happy. You were on top of the world at that moment. You told Connor how you felt about him and he feels the same way about you. Your heart was beating so hard and your lungs were working over-time to take in some much-needed air. Your face was hot and your cheeks hurt from smiling so much. But you were happy._ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)  
> Please feel free to write down any thoughts or feelings you have! I love reading comments! They make my day!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next few days were filled with a lot of paperwork and a lot of you and Connor annoying everyone else in the precinct. Connor had suggested that you two be strictly professional when at work, but that plan went down the drain the first day.

“(Y/N), holy shit! Is it true?” You look up from your mug of coffee to see Gavin all but running at you from the break room’s entrance. “Did you and the tin can finally get your shit together?” He grinned at you and you returned it as he took the seat across from you. 

“Yeah, we did,” You nod, making Gavin’s grin grow. “How did you know?” 

Gavin’s smile faltered as he avoided your gaze. You tilted your head, waiting for a response. 

“Uh, well,” He stumbled over his words for a moment. “Nines called me last night. Said Connor told him what happened.” His face was slightly red as he explained, voice quiet and embarrassed. “And, by the way!” He continues before you could say anything, looking at you with a furrowed brow. “Why didn’t _you_ call _me_?” 

You laugh at his faux anger. “I was waiting to tell you today. By the time Connor left, it was late and I was tired. Plus, I didn’t want to wake my neighbors by yelling at you through the phone about it.” 

“Ohh,” Gavin’s voice was teasing as he wiggled his eyebrows. “It was _late_ and you were _tired_?” 

You shoved at him from across the table, laughing. 

“Get your mind out of the gutter, perv!” Gavin laughed fondly and you grinned. “We talked for a while. About everything and nothing. About us and what exactly we are.” You trail off, smiling softly down at your mug. “And there was also a lot of kissing.” 

Gavin barks out a laugh and you giggle along with him. Your face and chest were warm with the memories of last night. It was a night you think you’ll hold in your heart forever. 

“So,” Gavin says, voice soft. “What exactly _are_ you two?” He tilts his head as he waits for your answer. You smile at him, feeling a little embarrassed. 

“Well, we decided that we’re a couple now. Connor is my... boyfriend,” You couldn’t fight the smile growing on your face at the word. Gavin smiles fondly at you; all teasing and jokes absent from his face. He was genuinely happy for you. 

“That’s great, (Y/N),” Gavin’s voice was soft and so overwhelmingly sincere. The two of you smile at one another for a moment before you remembered something. 

“So, wait, when did you and Nines suddenly start calling each other over the phone late at night?” You raise a teasing eyebrow and Gavin’s face got red. 

“Well!” He said defensively as he avoided your eye. “We ended up talking a bit yesterday after work. We both stayed behind for a little bit and he ended up coming up to my desk.” 

Gavin catches your eye again, blush evident on his cheeks and ears. You made sure to give him an open look, the teasing one now gone. 

“And, well,” He continues. “We ended up actually having a conversation. Like, a real one, not just us yelling at each other.” You grin at Gavin and he gives a small smile right back. “It was pretty nice, and I ended up giving him my number.” 

Gavin shrugs, looking away again. “That’s great, Gav,” You say as he gives you a bashful look, hiding half his face with a hand. “It’s _your_ turn to get your shit together now.” 

You grin as Gavin lets out a small groan, fighting the smile creeping up on his lips. 

The next few days were filled with a lot of paperwork and a lot of you and Connor annoying everyone else in the precinct. Connor had suggested that you two be strictly professional when at work, but that plan went down the drain the first day. 

You were severely distracted by Connor every few minutes, delaying your paperwork further. The two of you would smile at each other from across the bullpen and you would watch as his LED would spin yellow for a moment, sending a text to your phone. It came to a point where Gavin took your phone and threw it in one of his desk drawers. 

Hank and Gavin tried their best all week to get Connor and you to focus, but it was no use. The two of them ended up becoming even more frustrated and annoyed than before you and Connor got together. 

“I think I liked it better when you and the tin can were pining after one another,” Gavin said one day. “I can’t stand seeing the two of you striping each other with your eyes from across the room every day. It’s disgusting.” 

You smacked at Gavin, causing him to laugh and try in vain to defend himself. 

“ _You’re_ disgusting,” You said, grinning. 

Eventually, the end of the week came along, and Connor met you at your desk around 5. 

“Ready to go, sweetheart?” Your face grew warm at the nickname as you smiled up at him. The two of you had been trying out pet names lately, and you’re honestly still not used to Connor calling you anything like _sweetheart_ or _honey._

Gavin gives a fake gag at the two of you, causing you to huff out a laugh. “Yes, hon, I’m ready,” You said, voice hyperbolically sweet, just to spite Gavin, who playfully rolls his eyes as you two gather your things. You notice Nines coming up to Gavin and send your friend a quick look, causing him to turn towards the android. 

“Hey, Nines,” Gavin said, voice anything but casual. “What’s up?” You pretend to continue packing things up at your desk even though you were ready to go. 

“Detective Reed,” Nines says, eyeing you and Connor for a moment, LED yellow, before giving Gavin his full attention. “I have a proposal for you.” 

You exchange a glance with Connor. His raised eyebrows match yours as you slowly grab your bag and sweater. 

“Okay?” Gavin says, playing with his keys. 

“Would you like to go out for a drink with me tonight?” 

You caught Connor’s eye and the two of you had matching grins. You two slowly start to walk off as you hear Gavin reply. 

“Yeah, okay. Sure, Ratchet.” 

As Connor escorts you to your car, hand in hand, the two of you exchange a look. 

“So, do you think that Nines just asked Gavin out on a date?” 

“Well,” Connor debates the question. “I think the two of them will figure that out tonight, don’t you?” He tilts his head as you reach your car, keys unlocking the door. 

“Hmm,” You think as you toss your bag into the passenger seat. “Yeah. I hope they do.” 

You shut the door, turning to Connor and taking his hand in yours again. 

“Oh,” He says. “I almost forgot! Tomorrow is the Jericho Museum grand opening!” He sounded so excited. It was very cute. “It’s at 2 o’clock. I’ve already invited Hank and Nines and a few others from the precinct. Nines will undoubtedly invite Gavin. If not, you can too.” 

You smile up at Connor, the eager smile on his face making your chest warm. “Yeah, Con, I’ll be there.” He grins down at you, leaning down to press a quick kiss on your lips. 

“Good. I’m glad,” He squeezes your hand before you get up on your toes to give him another kiss. This one was a little longer, a little sweeter. You heard Gavin wolf whistle as he and Nines made their way into the parking lot. You and Connor pull away, looking over at the two with sheepish smiles. You flip Gavin off before waving goodbye at the two. 

Connor gives you one last peck before bidding you a good night and walking off to Hank’s car. You got in your own before making your way home. 

A crowd of humans and androids alike were gathered in front of the brand-new Jericho museum. The ship that once was Jericho was replaced with the shiny new building standing in front of you. Inside were pieces of the ship, the uniforms Markus and his crew wore when they invaded the news tower, flags and banners with the Androids’ slogans and signs on them, and more. 

You couldn’t wait to see what’s inside. Connor had told you all about it last night over the phone. He sounded so excited and you could not stop smiling as he talked all about the different bits and pieces that made up the museum exhibits. 

You see Gavin standing next to Nines and Hank towards the front of the crowd. Gavin catches your eye and you smile at him as you navigate through the crowd to reach him. 

“Hey, (Y/N),” Gavin said, the others giving similar greetings. You said hello to everyone before taking your place next to Gavin. You raised a silent eyebrow at him, looking between him and Nines. 

Gavin sighs, a small smile and blush on his face. 

“Later, okay?” Gavin mutters, low enough for only you to hear. 

You give an over-dramatic sigh. “Okay.” 

One by one, Markus and the rest of the council make their way to stand in front of the doors of the museum. You see Connor as he joins the group, looking handsome in a blue button-up shirt and slacks. He skipped out on the tie today, a button or two left undone towards the collar. He catches your eye, sending you a smile that you don’t hesitate to return. 

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Markus starts, getting the crowds attention. “Thank you all for being here today for the grand opening of the Jericho Museum. I cannot tell you what this means to me and all of android-kind. I would like to thank Mayor De La Fuente for her kindness and generosity throughout this process. She offered so much to us for this museum. We are very grateful.” 

The crowd gives the Mayor a round of applause as she waves from the crowd. Markus looks out at the crowd for a moment as the applause dies down. 

“Before the revolution began, our people – the ones who did not have anywhere to go – hid in the Jericho freighter. When I found Jericho, I saw that my people were dying one by one because of a lack of biocomponents. I decided I needed to help. That I wasn’t about to let them die off-” 

Shots go off from the crowd and bullets hit Markus in the shoulder and chest and most of the council members as well. The shouts and screams from the crowd erupt and echo as people scattered or got down on the ground. You freeze as your eyes search for Connor. He was clutching onto his chest, face scrunched up in pain. 

The world seems to slow as the shots stop and the people who were behind the shooting were taken down by multiple officers. Gavin, Nines, Hank, Chris, and Tina were all tackling and disarming and arresting the shooters. Connor was on his knees, just a few feet in front of you. Everything was muffled and blurry and you didn’t know how to breathe anymore. Your heart didn’t know how to beat anymore. Everything stopped. 

Then, Connor’s eyes met yours and you sprang into action. 

“Connor!” You yelled as you ran. When you reached Connor, you looked him over and saw only one gunshot wound in his chest, just next to his thirium pump. You put pressure over the wound and Connor placed a hand over yours. You felt tears flow freely as Connor reached out a hand to put on your cheek. 

Blue blood and tears mixed on your face as you tried to get Connor to say something, to stay with you. He just smiled up at you. 

“Con, please, _please_ stay with me. Please,” You begged over and over as you hear someone calling out to you and Connor. You don’t pay any attention to Hank and Gavin as they reach your side. Connor’s eyes don’t leave yours as Hank tells Nines to call for help. 

You place your free hand on the one on your face, squeezing as sobs erupted from your chest. 

“Connor, please,” You whispered as Connor’s eyes started to slip closed, hand on your face going slack. “No, please, Connor, wake up! Connor!” 

Gavin’s hand on your shoulder is brushed off by your blue blood slickened hand as you continue to keep pressure on Connor’s chest. Hank gently removes your hand to replace it with his, muttering empty reassurances to you as he does. Gavin takes you in his arms, letting you bury your face into his chest as the two of you sit on the ground, waiting for help to arrive. 

The waiting room is cold. There are people mulling around, doctors and nurses and technicians, people waiting to hear news about their loved ones. You think you recognize one of the council members there too. Simon, you think his name is. Gavin and Hank were sat either side of you. You felt numb. Empty. You're aware of Gavin wrapping his jacket around you and Hank muttering something over the phone to Captain Fowler. But it didn't feel real. It didn't feel like you were actually living this moment. 

It was almost like you were watching a movie. You watched as a technician walked up to you and said they managed to get the bullet out of Connor's chest. He lost a lot of thirium. One of his minor biocomponents had to be replaced. He's in stasis now. They don’t know when exactly he will wake up, but it should be soon. If not today, then in the next few days, they said. 

_The next few days_ echoed in your head as you watched yourself take an elevator up to the fifth floor. You watched Hank open the door to room 5279. You watched as you all but collapsed on a chair by the bed Connor was lying in. 

Hank's muffled thank you at the technician barely reached your ears. You slightly registered Gavin placing a hand on your shoulder as he stood behind you. Your eyes were trained on Connor. You noticed the way his chest doesn't move and start to panic until you realized that Connor didn't have lungs. He didn't need to breathe. 

The noise in the room fully registered after a moment and you finally heard the rhythmic beeping coming from a monitor by Connor's bedside. You reached up to gingerly remove Gavin's hand from your shoulder, making sure to give it a grateful squeeze before letting go. You slowly stand and take a step towards Connor. 

His hand is cold when you touch it. He is unmoving and if you didn't know he wasn't, you would have thought he was dead. The room is silent as you slowly intertwine Connor’s fingers with yours. Suddenly, the numbness is replaced with overwhelming despair. 

Tears flowed heavily down your face as the emptiness faded and everything you were feeling finally caught up to you. You didn’t try to quiet the sobs that were racking through your body as you grip Connor’s hand, hoping to anything that he would squeeze back. That he could feel your hand in his. That he would wake up any second now and tell you he loved you and that he’s okay. 

That doesn’t happen though. Instead, Connor lays there. He just lays there. 

Hank muttered something you couldn’t quite hear and Gavin nods before Hank left the room, rubbing at his face. Maybe wiping away tears he didn’t want anyone to see. Gavin gingerly put his hand back on your shoulder, getting your attention. 

“(Y/N),” Gavin said, voice soft. He didn’t have to say anything more. You let go of Connor’s hand so you could wrap your arms around Gavin’s waist. He wrapped his own around your shoulders, allowing you to bury your face in his chest and just sob. He rubs soothing circles on your back as you cry. You ball up his shirt in your fists, trying to get your breathing under control. 

Eventually, you find yourself sitting down on the couch at the other end of the room with Gavin. You were able to breathe a little easier and Gavin had an arm around you as you rest your head on his shoulder. Your gaze did not leave Connor as Hank comes back in. He hands you a bottle of water and you try your best to send him a grateful smile as you take it. 

“I need to find Nines,” Gavin says once Hank was sitting on your other side. You sit up to let Gavin stand and walk towards the door. He looks over his shoulder at Connor for a moment before leaving. Your gaze returned to Connor as you take a sip of water. You and Hank sit in silence for a moment, nothing but sniffles and breathing and the beeping machine filling the room. 

“He really loves you, you know,” Hank’s gruff voice interrupted the silence. You tear your eyes away from Connor to look at Hank. He kept his gaze on Connor as he continues. “Has for a while. You’re his whole world, kid.” 

You take a shaky breath as Hank finally looks at you. You two share a moment, glassy eyes taking in the other. “He’s my world too, Hank,” You say, voice hoarse and shaky. “And I’m sure he’s yours too.” 

Hank sniffs, nodding. “Closest thing I’ve had to a son in a long time,” He glances back over at Connor and you do the same. “You know, the night of Chris’s promotion party, Connor went home with a huge smile on his face. I knew it had something to do with you. I saw the way your two looked at each other in the parking lot.” He gave you a small smile that you returned, remembering how Hank honked at you and Connor that night. 

“I asked him why he was so happy,” Hank continues. “He said ‘I really like her, Hank.’ He had that dumb smile on his face all weekend. It was a little creepy to see, honestly. But I knew that he was happy. That you made him happy.” 

You felt your eyes sting and your throat tighten as you watched Connor. You remembered that that was the night Connor subtly asked if you had feelings for Gavin. He had looked so happy when you said no. The memory of his smile made your heart squeeze painfully. Hank placed a gentle hand on yours and you look up at him. 

“He’ll make it through this. The technician said that the operation was successful and that he should get out of stasis soon. Plus,” Hank adds, squeezing your hand slightly, “I’m sure Connor wouldn’t even _dream_ of leaving you alone. He loves you too much.” 

Hank’s voice cracks slightly at that and you pretend you don’t see the tears pouring out of his eyes. You purse your lips together, trying to fight your own tears and you squeeze Hank’s hand right back. 

Gavin returns a little while later with Nines. At first, it’s difficult to look at Nines. He looked so much like Connor. It was almost painful hearing Nines speak. Connor’s voice was coming out of Nines’s mouth, but it wasn’t Connor. Nines’s inflections and the way he shapes his words weren’t the same as Connor’s. His eyes were blue and his face was free of freckles and he didn’t look at you like Connor does. 

Nines must have taken notice of your reaction to him being there because he tries his best not to speak or be in your eyeshot. You’re grateful and try your best to tell him that by briefly taking his hand and squeezing it. Nines’s surprised eyes meet yours and you give him a tight smile. He seems to understand, and he squeezes back before you let go. 

By the time a technician returns to Connor’s room to check on him and tell you all that visiting hours were over, it was already late. You ask if you could stay and the technician is hesitant, but Hank and Gavin managed to convince them. 

That night, you slept in a cot that was set up next to Connor’s bed using Gavin’s jacket as an extra blanket and as a comfort. Well, you tried to sleep. You were exhausted from all of the crying, but you couldn’t find it in you to close your eyes for too long. Your eyes were glued to Connor and you listened to the beeping of the monitor by Connor’s side. You weren’t sure when Connor would wake up. It could be any second now. You wanted to be there when he did. More than anything, you just wanted to hear his voice and feel his warm hand in yours and see his eyes again. 

Somehow, you managed to drift off. You tried to comfort yourself with the thought that if anything bad were to happen to him... Connor at least knows how you feel. 

Gavin finds you the next morning in Connor’s room. You haven’t left his side. At some point in the night, you woke up around 4 in the morning and didn’t fall back asleep. The smell of coffee made you look up at Gavin as he walks in with two disposable cups. He doesn’t speak as he sits next to you on the couch and hands you your cup. 

The two of you sit in silence, taking sips of your drinks every so often. You realized that you still had Gavin’s jacket wrapped around your frame and went to take it off so you can return it. Gavin holds out his hand to stop you, shaking his head and silently telling you to keep it. You give him the smallest smile you could muster in thanks. A few more sips of coffee pass between the two of you. 

“I was jealous,” Gavin said after a moment, voice breaking through the quiet. “That night at the bar with you, me, Hank, and Connor. I was an asshole that night because I was jealous.” You watched Gavin as he spoke. He was avoiding your eye, instead staring hard at the ground. 

“Jealous?” You spoke, voice rough from lack of speaking. Gavin sighs. 

“I used to have a thing for you,” Gavin glances at you, face tinged slightly pink. “ _Used to_. Don’t get too excited.” You huff out a small laugh and Gavin smiles a bit before continuing. “That night was supposed to be just you and me. I asked you out to drinks as a date.” 

The realization of this hit you like a truck. Before you could say anything though, Gavin goes on. 

“But when you wanted to invite Connor and Hank, I knew you didn’t understand that. I said yes because that was what you wanted. At the bar, I figured out that you had feelings for Connor. That pissed me off. Made me act like an ass. Made me drink myself to death the next day. 

“And then when you showed up to take me home?” Gavin catches your eye again. They were so full of sincerity. “I knew I loved you. But I also knew that you wouldn’t love me the way I wanted you to. And I was okay with that. I still am. Because now... Now, I have Nines.” The smile on Gavin’s face made your lips curve up in their own smile. The biggest smile you’ve had on your face in twenty hours. 

“I mean,” He continues. “I still have you, just not,” He trails off for a moment. “Anyway, the point is,” Gavin reaches out and takes your hand in his, giving it a tight squeeze. “I’m so glad that you’re my friend. That you’re in my life. I know what you’re going through right now isn’t easy and I need you to know that if you need _anything_ at all, let me know. I will be there for you. Always.” 

Your throat tightens and you purse your lips as you try to stop yourself from crying. You’ve cried too much, and you don’t want to do so again. You bring Gavin into a big hug, squeezing your eyes shut and feeling a few tears make their way past your eyelashes. Gavin holds you there for a moment, rubbing up and down your back and letting you rest your head in the crook of his neck. 

“Thank you,” You whisper into his skin as you hug him. “I love you, Gav.” 

“I love you too, (Y/N),” 

The day slowly passes by. Nines, Hank, and Gavin come in and out of the room, delivering food and just being there for Connor – and for you. Connor doesn’t experience any changes throughout the day. This isn’t a comfort to you at all. The technician tells you all that this is a good thing. That if there were changes, it could mean either the worst possible thing or the complete opposite. They literally worded it that way. You guess technicians have less experience with bed-side manner than doctors do. 

At around 6 o’clock, Gavin and Hank talk you into going home to shower and get a change of clothes. You had been at the hospital for over twenty-four hours and it was starting to show. You were hesitant but Gavin promised that he would call you if anything changes. 

It’s difficult to leave Connor’s side, but you knew you needed some deodorant stat, so you gathered your things and made your way to the elevator. On your way, you see the council member you recognized to be Simon. He was sat in a chair in the hallway outside of a room presumably holding one of the other members. You contemplate approaching him, but his eyes catch yours before you could decide otherwise. You take a breath before slowly walking up to him. 

“I know you,” Simon says once you’re in earshot. “You’re that detective Connor told us about, aren’t you?” You nod and then take the seat next to Simon. 

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m (Y/N),” You stick out a hand for him to shake and he takes it. 

“Simon.” You glance at the door next to your seats and Simon follows your gaze. 

“Who are you here for?” It might have been a dumb question, considering he was the only council member in sight, but you asked anyway. Simon doesn’t look bothered by it. 

“Everyone. North and Josh are awake and are going to be staying another night just to make sure they’re okay to be released. Marcus, though,” Simon trails off, glancing once again at the door. “He’s still in stasis. Lost a lot of thirium. The technicians say he’s going to be fine. He just needs time to rest. He should wake up soon.” 

You feel your heart pang slightly at the sound of Simon’s voice. You had read in articles that he and Marcus had started dating sometime after the revolution ended. 

“I’m really sorry, Simon. It must be scary going through this without a support system.” You at least had Gavin and Hank and Nines. Simon didn’t have anyone. 

“Josh and North are support enough,” Simon smiles in the direction of the doors across the hall. “Oh, by the way, how is Connor?” 

“He’s, uh,” You pause, glancing over your shoulder at the door leading to his room. “He’s still in stasis. He’s okay. Basically, what the technician said about Marcus, they said about Connor. He’ll wake up soon. They just don’t know when soon is.” 

Simon nods, watching you carefully. His eyes seem to light up slightly in realization. 

“Oh. I see,” You lift an eyebrow in his direction. “You and Connor are close, yes?” You hesitate, searching Simon for a moment. He seems to be open and genuinely interested in your answer. You smile slightly at him. 

“We’re together, yes,” You answer, feeling your heart squeeze slightly. “I’ve been here since yesterday. My friends sent my home to shower,” You pause as you decide that you can truly trust Simon. “I’m scared that if I’m away from him for too long, something might happen. I couldn’t close my eyes to sleep last night because I didn’t want to miss him waking up or if something were to have happened and I’m exhausted. I just. I’m so scared.” 

Simon’s kind eyes hold your gaze for a moment. He gingerly takes your hand in his and you let him, knowing that you could truly trust him. 

“I know your pain. I hope you had the support you mentioned earlier. It is especially essential for humans to have people to turn to in dire situations. I hope he wakes up soon, (Y/N).” 

You give Simon a small and genuine smile. “I hope the same for Marcus.” 

The water raining down on you is cold and you try your best not to dwell on the fact that you were too far from Connor. You were too far and there was no way for you to be with him if something were to happen. What if something horrible happens while you’re gone? What if you miss Gavin’s phone call? What if– 

You scrubbed at your limbs, trying to push your thoughts down while you watched as the soap and water went down the drain. Memories of the shots going off in the crowd echo along with the water hitting the tiles. The soap suds mix with the memory of Connor’s blood running through your fingers. Suddenly you can’t get rid of the blood. No matter how much you scrubbed, you couldn't get the blue to disappear from your hands. 

You felt tears well up in your eyes and the water coming from the showerhead suddenly started feeling like bullets pummeling your skin. The cold water felt scorching hot and the blood was _not washing off_ and you couldn’t get the image of Connor’s still body on the hospital bed out of your head. His chest wasn’t moving because he didn’t have lungs. He didn’t need to breathe. His eyes were closed and unmoving. He didn’t twitch. He didn’t have a reason to. 

You had to get out of there right now. He’s too far. You have to go back now. 

As quickly as you could, you shut the water off and wrap a towel haphazardly around yourself. You make your way to your room and throw on the closest clean clothing you could find. You grab your phone and wallet and opted to take a taxi to the hospital. You couldn’t trust yourself to man your own vehicle, even if it was self-driving. You would probably set it to the fastest speed and even then, you knew that wouldn’t be fast enough. 

You shoot out a text to Gavin saying you were on your way. He gives you a thumbs up and you watch as the city passes by through the taxi window. You felt your leg shaking and you were biting at your bottom lip, worried out of your mind. Gavin promised he would call if anything happened. He hasn’t called; therefore, nothing has happened. Connor is still in stasis. He is okay. Nothing has changed. 

You all but run into the building when the taxi pulls into the parking lot. You press the button on the elevator to go up and anxiously watch the numbers above the elevator go from level seven to level one. The doors open and you have to wait for people to get out before you could enter. Thankfully, you were the only one in the elevator. You press the button for the fifth floor when you hear your phone ring. You pull it out, fearing the worst. 

It’s Gavin. You answer in a panic, feeling your heart drop. He doesn’t even give you a chance to say anything. 

“(Y/N) he’s awake. Where are you? Connor is awake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any thoughts! The next chapter will probably be the last one. I'm a little sad about it, but I'm very grateful for everyone that has read my little fic. Thank you so so much. I'll see you all in the next one!

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on tumblr! My main is @purplelittlepup and my dbh blog is @detroitbutwithmorehugs  
> Thanks for reading! ❤


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